Rollercoaster
by Jem Black
Summary: James, Lily, Sirius, Arabella, Remus and Peter - Six best friends. Only James' is secretly in love with Lily, Sirius is so hung up on Bella its not funny (where as she just finds him irritating) and Remus spends classes daydreaming about Ashleigh. R/R!!
1. Back to School

Rollercoaster.  
  
Hey all!! This is my first - ever fanfic so plzzz go easy! I don't like flamez unless they are what you would call "constructive critisism". I'm Australian so I'm sorry if my characters don't sound quite as british as they should. Anyways hope you enjoy! On with the story...  
  
DISLCAIMER: I am not british, blonde OR pregnant - therefore I am not J.K Rowling - Therefore I do not own any of the magical world, or any of the characters.  
  
This story is about James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Arabella - Six best friends starting their sixth year at Hogwart's. However this year certain members of the group start to feel different towards others.  
  
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James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans and Arabella Figg were best friends. They had been ever since they started as first years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now loud, adventurous and extremely happy teenagers they shared alot of things - including pranks, detentions and an extreme dislike for Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape - OK let's make that Slytherins in general.  
Many people looked up to them - they boys envious of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter for having close friendships with two of the best looking girls in the school - and the girls likewise jealous of Lily and Arabella and of the fact that the four boys of the group looked after them and protected them.  
Needless to say life was great for the six - just about to start their 6th year at Hogwarts...........  
  
' LILY!!, OY LILY!!, LIL - EEE!!!'   
Lily, pushing a cart loaded with her trunk on platform 9 and 3/4, turned when she heard her name. She was about to board the Hogwarts Express, the school train which took all Hogwarts students to the castle at the beginning of the year. Lily new it could only be one of two people calling to her that loudly - Arabella Figg or Sirius Black - and as the voice definitely didn't sound masculine, she called out 'Coming 'Bella' and made her way towards the direction she thought she heard the voice coming from.  
'LILY!!' 'Bella screamed again when her friend came into view. She jumped of her trunk (which she had been standing on) and gave Lily a huge hug, nearly toppling them over.  
'Lily you look great!', 'Bella exclaimed and continued before Lily could talk - 'Nobody else is here yet! I wonder were they all got to? Never mind! So watcha been up to?'  
'Well..' Lily began, but was cut of by 'Bella screaming again. - (You never could get a word in edgewise when that girl was excited.)  
' REMUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!', 'Bella ran to a sandy haired boy and practically jumped on him.  
  
It was no secret Remus and Arabella had a favourite in each other. They lived next door to each other as kids and had best friends with each other way before Hogwarts and the other 4 came into the picture. They practically considered each other brother and sister - even though they weren't neighbours anymore - In the groups second year, Arabella's parents had split up and she moved with her mum to a house in Liverpool.  
  
'How are ya, ya daft scouser!' Remus teased and Lily watched as he swung her around happily - much to her delight. Those two truly were brother and sister, in spirit if not in blood...  
  
- But Lily barely had time to register this as a pair of warm hands covered her eyes and a husky voice whispered 'Guess who?' in her ear. Lily grinned.  
'Let me guess' she said, acting puzzled, ' It couldn't be...um...Severus Snape, could it?'  
The hands immediately withdrew and a (now normal) voice exclaimed 'Ew!! Gross Lily!!'  
Lily turned around to find one very cute, very rich James Potter looking down at her scandalized. His deep, warm brown eyes horrified behind his oval glasses and his mop of black hair messy as always.  
'What do you take me for Lils?' He asked her in disgust.  
Lily just grinned and he threw her a hurt look.  
' Oh come here you great oaf!' She said sypathetically, and pulled him in for a hug.  
  
' Hmm - Hmm!' Lily heard someone clearing there throut and broke away from the hug to see Sirius Black.  
' And just where is MY hug!' He asked her.  
'Or mine!' Remus piped up, him and 'Bella finally having returned to where they were standing.  
'Hey! What about mine!' Peter had arrived, pushing his trolley and holding his rat Stuart.  
'OK!' Arabella yelled, 'GROUP HUG!'  
And what followed was a large mass of bodies, and a string of small conversations:  
  
' Padfoot old buddy! How jolly good to see you!'  
' You to old chap!'  
' Hullo Lily! We've grown alot I see! And not just taller!...OW! Why'd ya do that for?'  
'Bella darling! Looking ravishing as always!'  
'Sod off Black!'  
' Yeah or I might have to bite you!'  
'And with Moony we know that's DEFINITELY possible'  
' Ok, Ok I'm getting claustrophobic! I can't breathe!'  
'Yeah! Besides you boys stink!'  
' I heard that Figg! Prepare to meet your doom!'  
' Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it Potter? Set your hair on me?'  
'That's it! Your in for it!'  
  
James picked up 'Bella and started towards the train with her.  
'REMUS! REEEEMMUSSS!!!!!!!!!' 'Bella screamed, 'Get Potter to put me down! JAMES!!!'  
Sirius turned to Remus and Peter.  
'Think i can beat 'em?' He asked, his dark blue eyes twinkling with mischeof.  
' Can puffskeins fly?'  
'You're on!'  
And before Lily could register what was happening, she was grabbed by Sirius and carried very hap-hazardly towards the train.  
  
In the end James and Arabella won the race. Sirius was kicked by Lily in an...er...distasteful place when a passing Snape commented on the colour of her underwear. Meaning he was too paralyzed to continue. Everybody thought it was quite funny, seeing Sirius in agony, trying to chase Snape so he could punch him - while Lily just stood there yelling obscenities at Severus until he was out of sight.  
  
Eventually the six found a compartment and stowed their luggage away into the racks above. James, Remus, Peter and Arabella still chuckling, Lily still fuming and Sirius still moving rather stiffly.  
'So what colour are Lily's undies?' James asked Sirius as they sat down. Lily sent James a very nasty look.  
'Hey' He retorted holding his hands up in defeat. ' Go easy, oh fiery one!'  
'Red!' Peter answered instantly after this, causing everyone (except Lily) to burst into laughter.  
  
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Sirius and Arabella had what you would call a 'strange' relationship. They were always teasing each other and getting into fights. But they were fond of each other.  
  
- Let's make that Sirius was fond of 'Bella. Bella herself didn't know quite what to think of Sirius Black. He was a friend - but she wouldn't call him a good friend. Not for the fact that she didn't know him well - just for the fact that he was so damn irritating!! But then there was the fact that he was very protective of her - just about as much as Remus - and her and Remus was practically her brother! Sirius and Remus would go to any lengths to keep a boy away form 'Bella. She understood Remus...but Sirius? She got more confused each time she thought about it.  
  
So after knowing all this it was no suprise to James, Remus, Peter and Lily that Sirius and 'Bella had an argument on the train.  
It started after 'Bella returned from the toilet looking quite angry - but hurt at the same time.  
Remus, noticing this asked her what was wrong.  
'Nothing! I'm fine!' She snapped, but Remus could tell she was angry.  
'You're not fine!' He said impatiently, 'What happened!'  
By now the other four were also looking at 'Bella intently, waiting for her to answer.  
' Remus it's alright' She said in a calm voice, ' I just had a run in with Malfoy, that's all. You know what that barstard's like. Always picking on my broken family!'  
' It's alright 'Bella we'll get him!' Peter said.  
'We'll pulp him!!' James agreed.  
'What did that dickhead say?' Sirius asked Bella, looking slightly more agitated than the others.  
' It's alright Sirius', she told him, 'It doesn't really matter. It's only Malfoy!'  
' Yeah. He's only trying to provoke us, to get us into trouble' Remus said soothingly. ' You sure you're alright 'Bella?'  
Arabella nodded her head and the others seemed satisfied - except for Sirius that is.  
' I'll kill him' He said angrily after several minutes in which he seemed to be thinking.  
'Sirius!' Bella exclaimed, ' Just drop it! I'm fine!'  
He looked over at her. 'I'll still kill him' he retorted.  
Bella was growing quite impatient.  
' Sirius I'm fine! OK! Fine!' She yelled at him. 'Why do you even care?'  
'If you don't want anyone to stick up for you that's alright by me' Sirius snapped back at her.  
' What about when you're teasing me, huh?' Bella asked him ' Who's gonna stand up for me then?'  
She then chose a seat as far away from Sirius as possible and they spent the rest of the train ride throwing each other dirty looks while the rest played an exploding snap tournament.  
  
Eventually the Hogwarts Express came to a halt, the students clambered off and made there way up to Hogwarts castle via magically drawn carriages. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Arabella all clambered off their carriage when it stopped infront of the big wooden doors that led to the entrance hall, and headed through them to the Great Hall for the opening feast.  
  
  
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YAY! FINISHED! Please read and review. Next chapter - We see more of the relationship between Lily and James.  
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	2. Sirius' secret

Rollercoaster.  
  
G'day again! Alright I'm putting this chapter up - even though I only got ONE REVIEW!!!!!!!!! :( But I hope that in putting this new chapter up people may find it in the goodness of their hearts to press that little button down there and give me their opinion. It could be two words - 'It sucks!' - for all I care. Just something plzz!!  
Oh and to my one nice reviewer - Moonylover - thankyou! Very much appreciated.  
  
DISLCAIMER: I am not british, blonde OR pregnant - therefore I am not J.K Rowling - Therefore I do not own any of the magical world, or any of the characters.  
  
This story is about James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Arabella - Six best friends starting their sixth year at Hogwart's. However this year certain members of the group start to feel different towards others.  
  
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The opening feast was always in Sirius' opinion - 'Bloody damn good!', and tonight's was no exception.  
  
Lily (who was an extremely fast eater) got bored quite quickly, and settled with trying to make James' extremely messy black hair lie flat (much to Peter's amusement).  
  
'What are you doing?' James asked her when she began patting his head, as if he were some kind of dog. Lily didn't answer his question, but instead started patting more vigorously. James grew impatient -   
'I said ...' He began, putting his knife and fork down, but was cut off.  
' Does your hair EVER look halfway normal!?' Lily cried in frustration - The look on her face was quite funny James thought.  
'Fraid not Lil's' He answered ' It's just one of the great mysteries of the world.'  
  
Peter snorted into his plate.  
  
'I feel sorry for you then!' She said and then turned to Sirius, who was looking quite forlorn  
'What's wrong Siri?' She asked - it was very unusual for him to be so quiet.   
Sirius chanced a glance at Bella who was trying to fix Remus' tie ('God Remus! Half of the first years can tie a tie better than you!' ).  
'Oh I see!' Lily said, grinning ' Get over it mate!'   
She patted him on the back.  
'You usually think it's funny when Bella's pissed at you!'  
Sirius just looked at her, and unreadable expression on his face.  
  
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At the end of the feast (as always) Headmaster Dumbledore stood up, and the entire Great Hall fell silent.  
'Good evening. I would like to welcome all new students to Hogwarts and all other students back to Hogwarts. I trust we are all fed and watered sufficiently?' Many in the hall nodded their heads.  
'Excellent! Now I have quite a few announcements to make, one which I believe will be quite exciting for you all.'  
Lily turned to her friends - exciting?  
' Firstly' Dumbledore continued ' I would like to remind you all that the forbidden forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden. Our resident caretaker, Mr Filch , would also like me to remind you that wandering the school at night is strictly prohibited and the consequences of being found beyond your common room after hours are extremely harsh.' He looked particularly at Lily and her friends at this. Bella waved and grinned cheekily back at him, causing him to chuckle appreciatively.  
' Now' He said ' For the exciting news. I am not sure that many of you are aware. But this year marks Hogwarts thousandth anniversary. To mark this occasion we will be holding a commemorative ball during the christmas break.'  
  
Several girls shrieked in delight.  
  
' We suggest you try your hardest to remain at Hogwarts during this time to attend the ball and spend this christmas at Hogwarts to celebrate it's thousandth year. I will be addressing the school with the details of the ball at a later date.' Dumbledore paused.  
'Now!' He exclaimed and clapped his hands together. ' I am sure you are all tired and you need to be rested and alert for you first day of school tommorow. Prefects please lead you houses to their respective dormitories. Chop! Chop!'  
  
Chatter broke out at once.  
'A ball!' Exclaimed Peter ' Can you believe that? We've never had one before.'  
'Great! Just what I need!' Sighed an unenthusiastic Lily ' A bunch of gits following me around for three months straight!'  
'You're very modest Lil!' Piped up Bella.  
'But it's true!' Argued Lily - and indeed it was.  
  
Lily and Bella were very popular with the boys at Hogwarts, but very few got the honour of dating one of the girls - as they were very picky, and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were, as Bella yelled once ' Overprotective prats!'.  
It was the same case with the boys - not so much Peter - but James, Sirius and Remus were constantly followed by a pack of chirping girls, each hoping to get a chance with one of the three most dashing men at Hogwarts.  
  
' Don't worry girls!' James assured them, coming to walk in between them (they were on their way to Gryffindor Tower now) and placing an arm around each of their shoulders, ' We'll fend them of for ya!'  
'Course we will' Sirius, who seemed to have regained some of his spirit, came up beside Bella and flashed her a winning smile.   
Bella looked at him as if sizing him up.  
'Alright then' She said ' I'll take youse up on that.'  
Sirius smiled wider - that was about as close to an 'I forgive you' as he was going to get from Arabella Figg.  
Bella then turned to Remus.  
'What about you? You gonna help save me from the big bad boys?' She put on an innocent face, looking up at him.  
'Haven't I always?' Remus asked her.  
'Too right!' She answered (perhaps a bit too loudly) and then proceeded to jump onto Remus' back.  
'Come on Rem! PIGGYBACK!!!'  
Remus grabbed her legs and tried to swivel his head so he could see her.  
' What did I do to deserve a best friend like you?' He asked in exasperation.  
Bella grinned, 'Something great!'  
They arrived at Gryffindor tower and went to their respective dormitories with calls of :  
  
' Night boys!'  
' G'night Lils'  
' Night Bella"  
' Night Rem, love ya!'  
' You to Bella, goodnight.'  
' G'night boys, love ya all!'  
' Even me?'  
' Yes, now goodnight!'  
  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   
  
Lily couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried to close her eyes and let sleep overtake her, she would end up wide awake, staring at the ceiling. She didn't know exactly what was wrong - but deciding she might as well do something useful, she grabbed her favourite book (The Witching Hour) and headed down to the common room. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't alone. James was sitting by himself in a couch near the fire. He wasn't doing anything exactly - it looked to Lily as if he was thinking.  
  
(A/N: I'm just warning you now that their discussion is mainly about Sirius and Bella. I might as well turn this whole bloody story into Sirius/ Bella. I just can't find a way to get James and Lily together. ARGGHH!!)  
  
'James?' She said softly, making her way towards him.  
He jumped and looked up at her.  
' Oh, hey Lils.' He looked very tired.  
'Why arent you asleep?' Lily questioned him, she put her hands on her hips. ' You should atleast be in bed.'  
James smirked at her. 'You're one to talk.'  
Lily sat down and sighed. ' I know! I couldn't sleep. So, why are you down here?'  
James yawned, but Lily could have sworn she saw a twinkle of laughter in his eyes.  
' Sirius' He said monotonely - but the twinkle was definetely there now.  
Lily didn't quite understand, what about Sirius?  
' Sirius what?' She looked up at him questioningly.  
James looked as if he were about to laugh now.  
'That boy is so hung up it's not funny!' He grinned ' Well, actually it is, but it means I can't get to sleep because he's wandering hopelessly around the dorm he's that lovesick!'  
It was Lily's turn to laugh now.  
'That's so cute!' She exclaimed ' Who is it?'  
James glanced towards the stairs that led up to the boys dormitories. He shook his head.  
'You don't wanna know!'  
'Yes I do!'  
'No, you don't!'  
Lily jumped up and went over to him.  
'Please James!' She said, getting down on her knees and giving him puppy dog eyes.  
His facial expression softened.  
'Alright then' He said ' I suppose it is obvious.'  
Lily was growing impatient 'Come on! Out with it!' - Her bright green eyes were wide in anticipation.  
'It's ... well ... it's Bella!' James burst out, grinning like mad.  
Lily giggled. ' I thought that whole thing was a charade!' She chuckled ' Everyone does!'  
'Yeah well it's obviously not.' He looked at her nervously. 'Just don't tell Bella, alright?'  
'Of course I won't!' Lily exclaimed, she then adopted a puzzled expression, ' Since when has Sirius liked her?'  
'Since that huge fight he had with Bella at the end of last year.' James answered, ' Remember what Bella screamed at him at breakfast that morning?'  
'Of course! The whole school does! Bella had just come abck from talking to that guy she like - Alex Bones and Sirius was really pissed off.'  
'Pretty obvious why he wanted to bash the barstard now' James mumbled.  
Lily continued ' Bella got sooooo angry. 'Why do you care Sirius?' she yelled. It was bloody loud to.'  
'Yeah well he actually thought about it' James rolled his eyes. 'All summer. Drove us mad. But he's got the answer now, hasn't he?'  
'I spose he has' Lily said. ' Let's just hope he doesn't do anything drastic.'  
' Yeah, let's just hope some other guy doesn't like her. Sirius will go crazy, he might get himself into trouble'  
'And you can talk?' Lily scoffed, ' Who got themselves kicked out of Amos Diggory's party last year. You and Remus created quite a bloody scene.'  
James scowled at her ' Lils! He was practically trying to rape you! We had to do something.'  
Lily smiled slightly ' He only touched my bum James, and anyway, maybe I didn't mind it!'  
James looked at her, shocked.  
Lily held back laughter 'I'm only joking James! But I can fend for myself you know. I don't think being pounced on and beaten up by you and Remus was poor Amos' idea of a good party.'  
'Well he should know better then to touch you like that when one of us is around, shouldn't he?' James said angrily.  
Lily sighed. ' Let's just drop it, OK?'  
She hopped up. ' Alright! Come on Jamie boy, you need sleep!' She tried to pull him off the couch.  
'What about you?' He complained.  
'I'm going to be too'  
'OK then' James yawned ' I suppose Sirius has fallen asleep by now.'  
lily made hr way towards the stairs that led up to the girl's dorms.  
'Night James!' She called, and made her way up.  
'Night Lils!' James watched her shadow until he could see it no longer, and added in a whisper-   
'You have no idea how much you mean to me'  
  
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Finished! Yay!!!!! Do you like? Hmmm... Sirius isn't the only one hiding something!!  
I know it's mostly Sirius and Bella but their my favourite couple. please read and review.   
By the way - I have exams this week, and a camp next week so I might not be able to update for awhile. But then it's summer holidays!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! and christmas!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I should be able to update then, but not very often because it is holidays, and my friend Shell is coming back to visit from Melbourne!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
NEXT CHAPTER: Alright I think next chapter Remus is going to find someone. And yes, it is a girl. (sorry all you slash fans) How will Bella cope? Will she be jealous, happy, what?? 


	3. Hide and Seek Potter style

Hello once again!!   
Oh my god!! I just watched Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and it was bloody great!! I love Legolas, he's just sooooooo hot!!  
  
Well I'm continuing this story ( even though I get no bloody reviews), I just personally like it and I have some ideas for further chapters that won't stop bugging me until they are written. This chapter was pretty damn hard to write, so if you do read it can you please review?  
  
Okay, I describe the girls looks in this chapter and I thought it wasn't fair for you not to know what the guys looked like too. So here is a short description of each:  
  
James: Tallest of the three with messy short black hair, light skin (not pale, just light), deep blue eyes framed by oval glasses (don't worry they make him look hotter) and a very, very cute smile.  
  
Sirius: Short chestnut brown hair that falls infront of his eyes (If you watch Cardcaptors - Just like Li's hair), twinkling brown eyes, olive skin and a very cheeky smile. ( He's also about 2 inches shorter than James - the same height as Remus)  
  
Remus: Sandy blond hair in a neat style, warm grey/blue eyes, tanned skin - with a few freckles on his face and a charming smile.  
  
Peter: (Oh god! Dare I even go here?) Hes the shortest, with mousy brown hair and dark brown eyes, he has pale skin and a cheeky (but eeery) smile.  
  
Oh and by the way I just wanted to add that Ashleigh Faulkes is a Gryffindor - just so you know!!!  
  
Ok that's about enough I think. On with the show........  
  
DISCLAIMER: James, Lily, Arabella, Peter, Remus and (unfortunately) Sirius do not belong to me. It's a harsh reality :(  
  
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ROLLERCOASTER: CHAPTER 3!!!  
  
Ashleigh Faulkes. That was her name, and she was beautiful. Unlike Lily's striking beauty - with her deep red hair, rosy cheeks and bright green eyes or Bella, who was not described as beautiful - more a cute prettiness with her shoulder length brown hair, freckles and shining hazel eyes, Ashleigh had a natural beauty. Her tanned skin and china blue eyes complimented her sandy blonde hair and warm smile. She was amazing, perfect even. She was....  
  
'Remus Lupin!'  
  
Remus quickly snapped out of his daydreaming to face an extremely agitated looking Proffesor McGonnagol, looking down upon him sternly.  
'For the third time!' She snapped ' Whatever you're gawking at can wait until the end of class.'  
'He can't wait Proffesor!' Sirus butted in, grinning at her charmingly ' That's the problem!'  
'Quiet Black!' She said angrily, then turned to Remus 'Please stop daydreaming and take some notes!'  
Remus blushed, mumbled an apology and fumbled for his quill - cunningly avoididng his friends knowing looks.  
The Proffesor gave him one last disgruntled glance before resuming her lecture on the tranfiguration of foreign species.  
James (who was seated beside Remus) gave him a nudge in the ribs and mumbled 'Aww ain't that sweet, Moony's in love!'  
Sirius scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Remus. A note. Remus rolled his eyes and opened it:  
  
Moony buddy, do something about you love life. It's disgusting watching you drool over her all day. It's quite sad really.  
Cheers big ears, Sirius.  
Remus replied (naturally).  
  
Speak for yourself. Do something about yours. If you don't act soon , I fear you may be out of luck.  
  
What is that supposed to mean?  
  
Remus gave Sirus a sympathetic smile and wrote just one word:  
  
Watch....  
  
Sirius looked across at Bella ( who was seated at a table with Lily and Peter). He couldn't see anything wrong until she raised her head and grinned sweetly across the room. He turned just in time to see Li Gray, a Ravenclaw boy, blow her a kiss. Bella blushed (since when did she blush!?!) and turned back to her work.  
'What the hell does he think hes doing?' Sirius growled.  
'I believe the correct term is flirting.' Remus replied, though he himself didn't look too happy.  
Sirius scowled at him and spent the rest of the lesson sending death stares into the back of Li's (overlarge, in his opinion) head.  
  
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James was restless. It was four weeks into his sixth year and he hadn't pulled hardly any pranks, or gotten into serious trouble once.  
So, he decided that the group was going to play hide and seek - at night - around the castle.  
Wether it was just because he wanted to have some fun, get into trouble, was completely out of his mind or thought he was losing his touch, nobody knew. He just came down into the common room one night and announced it.  
  
' Right you lot!' He said, looking very pleased with himself ' I've decided we're going to play hide and seek.'  
The others only looked midly amused.  
' And because you've decided it, you expect us to play, right?' Lily asked, looking up at him with one eyebrow raised.  
' Don't get cocky with me Evans!' Lily made a noise of protest, James grinned ' And yes, I do.'  
' And where to you propose we play this?' Remus asked, looking like he didn't really want to hear the answer.  
'The castle of course!' James said.  
'WHAT!' Remus, Lily and Peter exclaimed while Bella and Sirius responded with a ' Mad!' and a 'Count me in!'  
James ignored the protests and began to pair them up.  
' Remus, you and Bella together, I'll go with Lily and Sirius can go with Peter.'  
Sirius groaned.  
' The partners are arranged so that each pair contains someone who thinks this is a good idea, and someone who doesn't' James said.  
'Figures' Sirius mumbled.  
'Okay!' James clapped his hands. ' There are no boundaries as to where you can go, just stay inside and let's make it you can't hide in Gyffindor Tower. Sirius and Peter you're hiding and everyone else is seeking.' He checked his watch ' We'll wait until 10 o'clock to come looking for you, that gives you about 20 minutes. If, after three hours you haven't been found come back here. That goes for all of us.'  
Sirius and Peter began making their way to the potrait hole.  
'Oh and guys' James added ' I've hidden the Marauder's map. So don't think about sneaking back up to get it.'  
Sirius moaned ' You know me to well Prongs! Thanks for taking away my secret weapon!'  
And with that he and Peter were gone, leaving the others to wait.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -   
  
Sirius and Peter ended up finding an ingenius hiding spot, well Sirius thought it was pretty good anyway. I mean besides the fact that it was a girls bathroom, and it had an extremely touchy ghost named Moaning Myrtle in it........ ok, maybe it wasn't that ingenius. But it had been two hours and nobody hadn't been even near here - that had to be worth something, right?  
  
Infact, neither pair of seekers where anywhere near Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Arabella and Remus had partially given up and where now sitting down in the kitchens having a midnight snack. Lily and James, however where still searching - but on the seventh floor.   
  
'James!' Lily whined as they made their way down a narrow corridor ' We're never gonna find them, the castle is huge! You should have made it 2 hours, not 3!'  
James however was still determined and was not going to give up that easily.  
'Lils, the whole fun of it is to play it in the castle! It would be -'   
He halted when he heard a noise coming from up ahead - in the corridor intercepting the one they were on.  
'What-' Lily began but was silenced by James' hand. He peered around the edge of the wall to see the caretaker Filch and his cat Mr Jingles.  
'Shit!' He whispered ' It's Filch!'  
'WHAT!' Lily screeched, then clapped her hand to her mouth.  
Filch stopped. 'Who's there?'  
'Oh shit!' James said, he grabbed Lily's arm and began pulling her ' He heard you!'  
They ran back down the corridor and James quickly pulled Lily behind a statue  
They waited in silence.  
Lily suddenly became aware of how close she and James were. She hadn't seen him so close up before.   
She looked his face over and saw something different, something that she hadn't noticed before, in his eyes - specks of gold.  
'Your eyes have little specks of gold in them' she whispered.  
CRASH!!!  
They both jumped as an almighty bang echoed through the castle.  
'What was that?' Lily whispered, a scared look coming across her face.  
'I dunno' James whispered back ' But, whatever it was it was a fair few storeys down. Meaning Filch is now going to find out - meaning we can make our getaway.'  
They both sprinted back to Gryffindor Tower and collapsed on one of the couches.  
'Whatever - that - crash was' Lily gasped 'I'll bet you - it had - to do with one of the others.'  
As if to prove her right Remus, Bella AND Sirius and Peter all poured through the potrait hole at once - all out of breath. Arabella was laughing hysterically, Remus was trying to keep a straight face - though he was failing miserably, and Sirius and Peter didn't look to pleased at all. Bella started crawling towards them - it seemed that she was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up.  
' Guys - so - funny - Sirius - Pete -' She was apparently trying to tell them what happened, but was having a hard time as she was still laughing. She kept going however - 'run - escape - toothless - statue - bang - Filch' Were others words she came out with until she began laughing so hard that she couldn't continue.   
By know the others had come over - Sirius and Peter still angry, and Remus trying very hard not to look at Bella - but failed and started to laugh himself.  
' Okay, maybe one of you can give us an understandable explanation.' James said, turning to Sirius and Peter.  
'It wasn't THAT funny' Sirius growled.  
Bella who seemed to have gained some self control, started squealing ' Yes it was! Yes it was!'  
Sirus scowled at her.  
'So what happened?!' Lily said frustratingly. She was beggining to get impatient.  
'Ok I'll tell you.' Sirius said - he seemed to think it was better for them to hear his version instead of Remus' or (especially) Arabella's.   
'Me and Peter, right' he began 'were beginning to get bored'  
'Beginning?!' Peter butted in ' We'd been sitting in the same spot for two hours!'  
'Shut up!' Sirius snapped.  
'So anyway' he continued ' We decided we'd had enough and were just on our way back to Gryffindor Tower when we heard someone yell behind us. So Peter, being the scaredy cat he is-'  
'hey!'  
'yelled out 'It's Filch! Run!' so I, of course, thought that Pete had turned around and saw who it was. So we started running - but the funny thing was Filch didn't seem to be getting farther away - he seemed to be gaining on us. By now we were on the fifth floor and I was beggining to panic. Someone yelled again so we began running faster. I wanted to see how far away he was, so I turned my head slightly for one second - just for one second and BAM!!...........' Sirius grew silent.  
'Well?' asked Lily ' What happened?'  
Sirius looked very unhappy at having to say this.  
' I' he began ' I ran into a statue. But not just any statue - the statue of Toothless Jack. You know that really flimsy, skinny one?'  
James and Lily nodded their heads sympathetically. They knew the statue alright, Dumbledore had warned them about it several times - about how fragile it was, about how it needed replacing, about how easily it could be....  
'Knocked over' Sirius moaned ' I knocked the damn thing over. It made one hell of a noise.'  
'So that's what that bang was!' James exclaimed  
'Yeah and it bloody hurt to! And then of course I hear the person who's SUPPOSED to be Filch yell out 'Padfoot! What are you doing!' and I hear someone start laughing too. Of course, it turned out to be Remus and Bella. But's that's not the worst of it. I just get up off the floor, right and the real bloody Filch comes round the corner! So then all four of us started sprinting and just managed to get away - it was quite hard because my head was still throbbing and Miss Hysterics here was laughing so hard she could barely run. And that's about it really.'  
'Padfoot you are the biggest idiot I know!' James laughed ' But thanks for saving us! Filch was after Lily and I until he heard you knocking over the statue!'  
Lily and Bella (once again) started laughing.  
Peter looked down at them and shook his head ' I just don't see what was so bloody funny!'  
Sirius groaned. 'Neither do I.'  
James grinned,  
' So I'm guessing your not up for another round tommorow night?'  
  
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Yay!! Finished (finally) This chapter took forever to write, but it seems so short. :(  
So did ya like???  
I don't know what's coming next chapter. It's gonna be more about the ball and you'll see more of Ashleigh and Li.  
If you do read this story PLEASE REVIEW!! I know some people may find it hard but please do!! If I don't get many more I'm going to lose the will to continue writing this story ( and possibly the will to live).  
  
Alright then, catcha next chapter!!  
(Oh and if you like Cardcaptors, I'm begging you to read my story 'The Perfect Moment' and review it of course!!!)  
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	4. The very short Story of Bella and Li

G'DAY!! Welcome to the very exciting (or not) chapter four of the wonderful (or not) story Rollercoaster. GEE i love summer, don't you? well i know for most it's winter, but down here it's summer and I love it!  
  
Okay I dont have much to say except - on with the story.......  
  
DISCLAIMER: If Harry Potter was mine, I would be rich and famous and living in a mansion in England with better things to do with my time than writing fanfiction based on the books I created.  
  
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ROLLERCOASTER : CHAPTER SIX - THE (VERY SHORT) STORY OF BELLA AND LI  
  
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Towards the end of November, the whole of Hogwarts was sent into an uproar of excitement - well at least the girl population was. The reason for this was pretty simple, the ball had been announced - it was going to be held on Christmas eve, and just about every single girl was excited about it.   
  
This included Arabella, who was almost 100% certain that Li Gray, the boy she had been flirting with in class, was going to ask her. She was so happy about it she didn't even bother to get angry with Remus and Sirius, who had decided to point out every fault in the boy - some of which didn't even exist.  
  
Lily, however, was a different story. Sure, she was looking forward to the ball - but she had no idea who to go with. Lily had been asked by at least 1 hundred boys already (and it had only been a week), but she turned each of them down. It wasn't that they were all ugly, unpopular - or even stupid. It was just that they were missing something - she didn't know what that something was exactly, she just knew that no boy that had asked her had it.  
- Something else was bugging her too. James. She couldn't get the night they played hide and seek out of her head. How close they were. That look in his eyes. - Those golden specks. Because Lily had been looking at James' eyes alot lately. Not into them, just, at them. And she definetely couldn't see any specks of gold. It was all very strange really.  
  
The boys were also having a hard time of it. Peter had found a date already ( a fifth year Hufflepuff named Rosie), so he didn't have many problems. But James, Sirius and Remus were getting quite sick of girls practically throwing themselves at them. What with that, their serious girl problems (a.k.a Lily, Bella and Ashleigh) and having to threaten any boy they saw bugging Lily or Bella, the boys were getting worn out fairly quickly. Not to mention that the quidditch season had begun, and James,Sirius and Bella were all on the house team. (James and Bella were chasers and Sirius was a beater). So life was getting fairly strained for the six (especially the quidditch players) and for the boys, things were about to get worse...  
  
' ... and so I reckon we go to get our dress robes next Hogsmeade trip, 'cause I lost mine last time, remember that? and so I had to borrow some of yours. And remeber what that dolt over there said about them? Remember what he said? He said - '  
Bella, chattering away at lunch as usual, stopped when she was tapped on the shoulder and turned around to face -  
'Li!' She exlaimed and he smiled down at her.  
'Gotta moment?' he asked her and she nodded, blushing slightly as he led her away from the table and into the entrance hall.  
The moment they were out of sight the boys started whispering furiously to one another. Only this time, it seemed, James and Peter had joined into the ' There's something not right about that boy' discussion.  
Lily rolled her eyes. ' Are you guys EVER going to give up on the whole Li - Bella thing' she asked them.  
'Nope!'  
'Sorry I asked.'  
She then went back to picking at her lunch, trying not to listen to what they were saying.  
  
After about five minutes or so, Bella returned and practically flung herself onto Lily.  
'He asked me!!' She squealed, jumping up and down and looking so happy she didn't quite know what to do with herself.  
The boys remained silent, though Lily couldn't quite help but notice they had become extremely tense, and Remus, Sirius and James (The natural fighters of the group) had balled their fists up tightly.  
'And..' Lily asked, trying to ignore the boys and focus on Bella.  
'And what?' Bella asked, looking confused.  
'And what did you say?' Though Lily already new the answer.  
'What do you mean, what did I say?' Bella exclaimed ' I said YES of course!'   
She then began jumping up and down singing -  
' I'm going to the ball with Li! He is so hot! Yes he is! Hot,hot,hot! Hot,hot,hot! And so nice! Nice, nice, ni -' But paused when she noticed the look on each of the boys faces.   
Ignoring Remus and Sirius she turned to James and Peter.  
'Don't tell me those two gits (she indicated to Sirius and Remus) have roped you into their little 'I hate Li' club too' She groaned.  
'No' James said, and Bella looked quite relieved until he added ' We signed up of our own free will' He grinned at her.  
'Great!' She mumbled, sitting back down and burying her face in her hands ' I hate having four overprotective morons as friends!'  
  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   
  
It was the first quidditch match of the season. The sun was rising and there was a chill in the air - indicating that the heart of winter was nearly upon the inhabitants of the castle. (A/N - I don't know about whether in England, but if it's cold over here than it must be bloody freezing over there! To me 17 degrees (celcius) is cold enough!)  
It was also 6 o'clock in the morning. James Potter (the newly elected quidditch captain) had dragged his two favourite team-mates (or so he insisted) down to the pitch for an early inspection.  
'James!' moaned Bella, one of the two ' Do you have to do this every bloody game!'  
She was very tired - having spent a late night taking a midnight walk with her new boyfriend Li - and had to be propped up by the second team-mate, Sirius (who, of course, had no idea why Bella was so tired).   
'She's gotta point Jimmy - boy' yawned Sirius ' 7 - 8 o'clock maybe, but this is just obssesive. Where bound to win anyway, Ravenclaw suck!'  
James, who did not reply, got down on his hands and knees and began to inspect the floor.  
'Now that is obssesive!' grumbled Bella, then upon realising what Sirius had said, turned on him ' Hey! My boyfriend's on the Ravenclaw team you know!'  
Sirius scowled and pushed her off him, she fell to the ground 'I'm going to get some breakfast' he said angrily, and stormed off towards the exit from the pitch.  
'What's his problem?' Bella scowled, spitting out some grass.  
'You don't wanna know.'   
  
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' GOOD MORNING HOGWARTS!' Neil Logan's voice echoed throughout the pitch and stands. Neil was a seventh year Ravenclaw, with quite a big mouth, making him an excellent commentator of Hogwart's quidditch matches. 'STUDENTS, GHOSTS, RESPECTED TEACHERS, PROFFESOR NIGHT (the potions master - nobody like him very much)   
WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH OF THE SEASON! GRYFFINDOR VERSUS HUFFLEPUFF! AND ON THAT NOTE I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM!   
NEWLY ELECTED CAPTAIN POTTER, FIGG, HUDSON, BLACK, HAWKINS, O'CONNOR AND RAMSAY!  
POTTER, FIGG AND HUDSON ARE QUITE GOOD CHASERS (THOUGH I HATE TO ADMIT IT!) AND DISPLAY EXCELLENT TEAMWORK ALMOST READING EACH OTHERS MINDS (YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK INTO THAT PROFFESOR!)'  
'Logan!' - (Proffesor McGonnagol was supervising the commentary.)  
'SORRY, SORRY! SO NEXT WE HAVE THE QUITE EXCELLENT, AMAZING, SUPERB...'  
'Logan! If you cannot commentate without -'  
'YES, MINERVA DEAR MY BAD! SO THE QUITE AVERAGE RAVENCLAW TEAM CONSISTS OF CAPTAIN PREWITT, MCKINNON, GRAY, POSSETTI, BLAKE, FINLEY AND BAKER!  
ALL TEAMS ARE LINED UP READY TO START THE MATCH!'  
  
Down on the pitch, James faced the Ravenclaw captain Terry Prewitt. Sirius (much to his disgust) stood across from Li. Bella smiled at Li and he winked back, then turned to Sirius and smirked - one eyebrow raised.  
Sirius was getting angry. That barstard knew! He was trying to make Sirius jealous!  
But there was no time to ponder that as James and Terry shook hands and both team mounted their brooms. The ball were released and the game began.  
  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  
  
Halfway through the game, both Sirius and James were getting extremely annoyed. Sure, they were winning - but only just. This was because one little problem had arisen - Li.  
During the game, he kept flying up to Bella, grabbing her around the waist and whispering (what Sirius and James could only guess were) sweet nothings into her ear. This lost the concentration of Bella, Sirius and James - and Li knew it. Aside from that, James had spotted the rest of the group in the crowd and was annoyed to see that Lily was seated next to some unrecognisable boy - who definetely wasn't a Gryffindor.  
Even Neil Logan had noticed the lapse of concentration in the Gryffindor side.  
'NOW WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? HAVE HALF OF THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM BECOME PERMAMENTLY BRAINDEAD! BLACK LOOK A BLUDGER! OWW, TOO LATE!'  
'What is wrong with them!' Remus said angrily, turning to Lily (who had been speaking to Alex Bones.)  
'I have no idea!' she said frowning ' But I know something must be up! They never play like this.' She turned to Alex ' Can I borrow your binoculars Alex?'  
'Sure'  
'Thanks' She handed them to Remus ' Here, you can work these things better than me. Tell me what's going on up there.'  
Remus adjusted the binoculars and peered through them, focusing firstly on Bella then James then Sirius.  
'Well nothing seems to be wrong' he began, but then he spotted Li flying up to Bella and whispering into her ear ' What does that git think he's doing!' Remus yelled ' He's supposed to be playing!'  
'What?' Lily asked anxiously ' What's going on?!'  
Remus tore his eyes away from the binoculars.  
'Li's playing around with Bella so she can't focus on the match! Of course James and Sirius can't focus either - you know how they are about him!'  
'But he's meant to be playing!' Lily said loudly ' What's wrong with him!'  
'It doesn't matter if he isn't doing what he's supposed to do!' Remus snapped, 'Gryffindor are already down two chasers and a beater!'  
Lily was losing her temper. Not many people had seen Lily mad before, but she was a red-head alright, and when she got angry -she got angry!  
'Bella! James! Sirius!' She screamed up at them, even though they were too far away to hear. ' What the hell is wrong with you! This is a quidditch match! You're supposed to be playing quidditch!'  
Several people around her laughed, some even cheered.  
'Calm down Lils!' Remus said, looking quite embarrased.  
'I will not calm down!' She said through clenched teeth ' I don't care that Gray is Bella's boyfriend. When he get's down from there I'm going to wring his fat, ugly neck!'  
Remus smiled. 'Count me in!'  
  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   
  
Gryffindor won (mainly owing to the fact that Nina Ramsay caught the snitch) and when Li landed he had to face an angry Gryffindor team, an angry Gryffindor house and an extremely angry Lily. Of course, Lily had wasted no time in informing most of Gryffindor of what Li was up to, and the majority became mad with him instead of James, Sirius and Bella.  
'What the hell were you doing!' Lily had walked straight past the Gryffindor team, and stared menancingly at Li .  
'What do you mean?' Li asked, trying to sound intimidating - but by now several Gryffindors stood behind her and he was beggining to get scared.  
'What's going on?' Bella could be heard trying to make her way through the crowd. ' Hey! James let go of me! Remus, what the hell is going on!?!'  
'Don't play dumb with me!' Lily said angrily ' I saw you, we ALL saw you.'  
Li looked defeated.   
'Okay, so I played with a couple of stupid peoples emotions - big deal.'   
He began to walk away.  
'Stop!'   
Li halted, and swivelled around.  
'What?' he scowled.  
'What's going on?!'   
Bella had managed to somehow, lose James, Remus and Sirius in the crowd and was now looking between Lily and Li with a suspicious expression.  
'Li tried to stuff up the game today. That's what's going on.' Lily informed her, though still not breaking eye contact with Li himself.  
'WHAT!' Bella shrieked, looking very angry and very confused.  
'Tell her.' Remus stated, having emerged from the crowd along with Sirius, James and an extremely confused Peter.  
'Tell me what, Li' Bella asked, looking at him frustratingly.  
Li glared at Remus, who stared back. He then turned to Bella.  
'I sabotaged the game today by breaking your concentration. What you didn't know is that I was doing it to annoy Sirius and James, so they couldn't concentrate either.' - he said all this devoid of emotion.  
Bella was literally speechless. She just stared, trying to comprehed what she had just heard. Li broke into her thinking.  
'Choose.' He stated, looking at her ' I don't like your friends here, they stick there noses into other peoples business. It's me or them.'  
Bella (along with the rest of the group, and everyone who listening) looked horrified.   
'Li, what you did is awful.' she said softly 'It's going to take awhile for me to forgive you.'  
'FINE!' Li snapped. ' We're through!' He smirked at her, then with a quick glance at Sirius added -  
' I only wanted to see how much you'd put out anyway.'  
He stormed off to the changerooms.  
James, Sirius,Remus, Lily and Peter were fuming.  
'Let's get him!' James stated simply, but Bella butted in.  
'Please don't!' She whispered ' I don't think I could..'   
She burst into tears and ran towards the castle.  
'Remus' Lily turned to him. ' You go.'  
He nodded and tore after her.  
One of the Gryffindors sighed,  
'Boy, oh boy, oh boy!'  
  
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Thank god it's finished. That was depressing :( I wasn't going to have them break up until later, but you said you wanted more Lily/James, so I had to make room for it!  
  
Poor Bella!   
Okay well I'm not sure if 'put out' is a widely used term. So incase you didn't know 'put out' means basically how much someone will give sexually - 'I only wanted to get into your pants' just sounded to grotty for this story!  
Don't worry, Sirius is gonna set Li straight (not fight with him, just a little talk) next chapter. Also Lily's gonna halfway solve the mystery of James' eyes (she doesn't solve it until the ball), James is gonna scrape up the courage to ask her and Remus is gonna ask Ashleigh.  
  
OKAY!! Till next chapter!!  
R/R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!! 


	5. He likes you

Yay! I am soooooooooo happy! Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - June 21st! I mean I know it's about 5 months away but atleast we know when it's coming out!  
Alright this chapter took forever to write so please review it!   
  
I got a review saying that I needed to paragraph my story better, so I did this chapter and re-uploaded it! - I'll thank them later.  
  
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own Harry Potter, and neither do you!  
  
Alright then, on with the story!!!!  
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ROLLERCOASTER: CHAPTER FIVE - HE LIKES YOU!  
  
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'GO on!'  
It was a cold Saturday afternoon and Bella was trying to persuade an extremely self concious Remus into the library, where Ashleigh was (supposedly) at the moment, doing her homework.   
It had been exactly one week since Bella's dramatic break up with Li. Any normal teenage girl would have been moping around in a forlorn manner, were they in Bella's situation.   
  
But not Bella Figg - she seemed have decided that if she herself could not go to the ball with who she wanted to - she would at least make sure her other friends would. And she had decided (naturally) to start with her bestest buddy in the world - Remus.  
  
'Remus! If you don't go in there and ask her right now, I will! And let me tell you - it aint gonna be pretty!' Bella (who was growing quite impatient) looked up at him angrily and motioned as if to open the door.  
'Wait!' Remus pulled her back ' What if she doesn't like me.' He looked down at his feet.  
Bella groaned.  
'Remus! Are you blind! You're one of the cutest guys in the school, and the funniest, friendliest, greatest guy I know!'   
She grinned at him and pointed to the library door -  
'So grow some balls, go in there and ask her you great git!' She tugged the front of his cap down so it covered his eyes. (A/N: we're talking about a surf,sport,baseball - whatever you wanna call it cap here - not one of those pointy black things!)  
  
'Right!' Remus, re-adjusted his cap, stormed up to the entrance, grabbed the door handle and - stopped  
'But what if -' He began, but was cut of by Bella opening the door, shoving him in and slamming it shut behind him.  
  
'I'm going to find Peter!' He heard her call from behind the door ' See who he wants to take. Catcha later!'  
'Well I feel extremely sorry for him then.' Remus mumbled, and he apprehensively began searching for Ashleigh.  
  
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'I'm dissapointed in him.' Bella mumbled as she left Remus in the library and set off in search of Peter 'I thought he would appreciate me giving up my Saturday to help him with his love life' She sighed   
'Oh well, maybe Pete will be more kind'  
She decided to head back to the common room and was just rounding a corner when she spotted the last person she wanted to see - Li. Luckily, he didn't spot her and she decided to hide behind a statue and wait until he passed.  
  
Truth be told, Bella was quite hurt. Sure, she was upset about Li - but something else was bothering her too. She knew she told her friends to leave Li alone, but she didn't actually believe they would. She had expected Li to have been beaten into a bloody pulp and left immobile in a bed in the hospital wing, without the use of several limbs. It wasn't that she wanted them to hurt him, it was just.......the principle of the matter.  
  
But Bella was awoken form her thoughts when she heard someone call out  
'Gray! Wait up!'  
Bella peeked around the corner to see someone making their way towards Li. It was......Sirius?  
Curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to see what Sirius was up to. I mean it had to be about her - didn't it?  
  
'What do you want Black?' Li's voice sounded agitated.  
(A/N: I thought that was funny - Black/Gray Black/Gray - Get it?hahahahaha....... um, OK, I'll just.....er......shut up now)  
'I wanna talk that's all' Sirius sounded fairly calm ' About Bella'  
Bella perked up - now she was definetely staying.  
'Well, what about her?' Bella could tell Li thought he was about to get hurt ' I haven't got all day here Black'  
'I just wanna know why?' Sirius sounded dead serious 'Bella's a great girl Li. She shouldn't be treated like she's some kind of ...... tart, slut - whatever way you want to put it.'  
  
'What do you care Black?' Li snapped, then stopped. 'Oh yeah' he said, realisation dawning in his voice ' I forgot. How silly of me. You like her, don't you Black? It is pretty obvious.'   
Sirius didn't answer. Bella was confused - did this mean it was true?  
'Pity she doesn't fancy you Black' Li sneered ' You would have suited each other well. Two overloud delinquents.' He chuckled ' Yes, such a pity. The one girl you want, is the one girl you'll never have. Quite ironic don't you think?'  
Sirius looked just about ready to kill, and Bella was sure he was about to launch himself onto Li. But instead he spoke, his voice an icy cold tone that sent a shiver down Bella's spine.  
'If you so much as look at her again Gray, I swear I will make your life not worth living.'  
  
Bella had had enough of the conversation.  
She quietly made her way back down the hall, and took a different route to the common room.   
  
It was time she forgot Li, and started rethinking exactly what she thought of Sirius Black.  
  
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Remus entered the common room with a very large grin firm of his face.   
She said yes! He couldn't believe it, he was taking Ashleigh to the ball! His grey eyes scanned the room, looking for Bella. She deserved a BIG thankyou.  
He spotted Lily, seated in a couch in the corner and made his way over to her.  
  
'Hey Lils, whatcha doing?'  
She looked up at him ' Oh nothing, just thinking.' Noticing the huge grin on his face she added ' You seem happy.'  
Remus' grin grew wider ' That I am Lils, that I am. Have you seen Bella'  
Lily frowned ' What? You're not gonna tell me why your so happy?'  
'Let's just say' Remus said in an airy tone ' I have the most beatiful girl in the world as my date for the ball'  
Lily looked at him shocked ' You mean, you asked Ashleigh?'  
'yup'  
Lily squealed, jumped up and gave him a hug ' Good on ya Remus.'  
'Thanks. Now I really need to find Bella.'  
Lily frowned. 'She was here awhile ago actually. She didn't look too good. She went up to our dorm, I think you better go check one her - and tell her your news of course!'  
  
Remus nodded and headed up to the sixth year girl's dormitory. The first thing he noticed when he entered was that the curtains of Bella's bed were drawn shut. He made his way over and upon getting closer, he was sure that she was mumbling to herself.  
'I mean what's up with that?' He could hear coming distinctly from behind the curtains 'I thought he only liked to tease me.'  
'Bella?' Remus said and the mumbling stopped immedietely and the curtains were pulled open, revealing Bella peering up at him.  
'What?'   
"She looks fine" Remus thought to himself and then decided to tell her the good news.  
'She said yes.' He grinned.  
A huge smile spread across Bella's face.  
'Way to go Remus!' She jumped off her bed, and landed on top of him, giving him a huge hug.   
'See! I told you! You should listen to me next time!'  
'Oh yes, how could I ever doubt the highly intellectual Bella Figg!' He teased.   
She bowed ' Thank-you, thank-you!'  
  
She stopped, and seemed to be thinking.  
' Remus?' A strange expression became visible on her face.  
'Yes Bella?' -This is what Lily must have meant, about something being wrong- he thought. He sat down next to her.  
Bella cast her eyes around the dorm, as if making sure no-one was there.  
She lowered her voice ' I gotta ask you something.'  
Remus frowned ' What is it Bella?'   
She glanced at the entrance to the dorm before returning her gaze to his.  
'I overheard something today.' She bit her lip, something she did when she was nervous ' And I'm not sure what exactly to think of it.'  
'What did you hear, Bella?' Remus asked anxiously, he was beggining to get worried.  
'Sirius... and Li!' She exclaimed in a loud whisper.  
Remus was becoming more and more confused. What would Sirius be talking to Li for? - he hated him!  
' Can you tell me what they said?' Remus questioned.  
  
Bella furrowed her brow.  
'Well,' She said slowly ' Sirius told Li he needed to talk to him - about me. Then he asked Li why he did what he did to me, he said something like "she's a great girl." and then...' She cut off, as if lost for words.   
Remus was about to say something, when she continued.   
' And then Li said that Sirius liked me' She shook her head softly ' but he didn't take it back. And Li started making fun of me and Sirius - mainly Sirius though. Then Sirius told Li to not even look at me, or he'd hurt him.' She stopped.  
'And then what?' Said Remus  
' I'd had enough' Bella stated ' I came back here.' She looked at Remus ' What does it mean, Rem?' She asked him.  
Remus snorted, Bella was pretty good at ignoring the obvious when she wanted to.  
'Sirius likes you, you git.' He grinned ' He's crazy about you.'  
It was Bella's turn to laugh ' No he doesn't!'  
'Yes he does!'  
'Then why doesn't he act like it!' Bella raised an eyebrow at him.  
Remus tutted. ' He does', he said, ' Isn't it obvious?'  
'What does he do then?' She asked him, looking as if the whole idea was stupid.  
'Do I have to list them all?' Remus groaned.  
'What a great idea, Rem!' Bella exclaimed  
'What?'   
  
She scrambled over to her desk (the messiest one in the room) and grabbed a pen and paper. Remus looked around the room and spotted Ashleigh's bed, Bella followed his gaze.  
'Ooo, lovergirl Ashleigh, Aye Rem?' She teased, coming back over to him 'Want me to show you what she wears to bed?' She raised and lowered her eyebrows suggestivedly.  
Remus went beetroot red. ' er... n-n-no' He stuttered, and Bella laughed.  
'Why are you getting embarrased Rem? I'm your bestest buddy!' She said happily.  
'Want me to show Sirius what you wear to bed?' He said, trying to tease her.  
'I don't even like Sirius! Beisdes, everyone knows what I wear to bed' Bella said, sitting next to him 'All your clothes!'  
'Which you steal from me, I might add' Remus said. ' I go to get my new boxers, and they've dissapeared.'   
  
Bella handed him a pen and paper.  
'Oh no' She said grinning ' I just wanted to show that pair to Ashleigh!'  
Remus groaned ' What is this for?' He asked, holding up the pen and paper.  
'The list of course!'   
'What list?' he asked, frowning.  
'The list of ways Sirius shows he likes me of course!' She said, smiling sweetly at him.  
'Why do you want me to write them down?' Remus said, quite confused.  
'So I can mark them off, of course!' Bella said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world ' C'mon, get started!'  
'And what if you mark them all off?' Remus asked, beggining to write.  
'Then I can definetely say' She said in a manly voice ' That Sirius likes me!' She saluted and smiled at Remus stupidly.  
'And then what?'   
'I dunno... I'll think about that when I get there!'   
  
______________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
It was Sunday and Lily was bored, very bored. She was sitting by herself on a lounge in the common room, grumbling to herself about how all her friends had deserted her.  
  
Peter was finishing his charms essay in the library with some 'girl' he met, Remus went for a walk with Ashleigh (much to his delight and Bella's amusement), Bella herself was following Sirius around with a piece of paper and a pen (Lily didn't know what that was about, and quite frankly, she didn't want to know either.), and James- well Lily had no idea where he was.  
  
Getting fed up, Lily decided to get up and do something. She exited the common room and was just thinking about going down to the kitchens to get something to eat, when she spotted the quidditch pitch through a window in the corridor. Upon closer inspection, Lily noticed that there was someone down there, zipping around on a broom. Lily squinted, trying to make out who it was, the figure turned around and Lily could distinctly see messy black hair, and a pair of glasses.  
  
'James' she mumbled to herself, and decided to head down there to see what he was up to ' Maybe I can get him to teach me how to fly.'  
Lily was quite confused about James, to be honest. Ever since the night they played hide and seek, she had been having quite un best friendly thoughts about him.  
-What if he had kissed me?- She had asked herself, because deep down, she knew that he was about to. The more logical part of her head, however, kept telling her it was nothing.   
- He's one of your best friends, nothing more! You don't want to ruin all that by liking him, do you?-  
  
No, Lily had decided, she did not. So she headed out onto the pitch, trying to wipe all illogical thoughts from her mind.  
  
It was quite chilly outside, but nonetheless, she walked out into the middle of the grass, and sat down. James had not seen her yet, so she just sat and watched him fly.   
  
James Potter was quite incredible on a broomstick, any student at Hogwarts would tell you that. Lily gasped and laughed as he did loop de loops and flew upside down. It was when James fell into a steep dive,that she got worried.  
-He's going to crash!-   
  
She watched as he pelted toward the ground, and then, miraculously, pulled out of the dive about one metre from the ground, and headed straight for -HER!!  
Lily screamed as James zoomed toward her. James (who hadn't been paying attention) turned and noticed her just in time. He pulled the front of his broomstick up and it stopped with a jolt, James fell of and toppled to the ground. He got up quickly however.  
  
'Oh my God! Lily, are you alright?' He scrambled over to her, his eyes wide.  
Lily, still in shock, did not respond.  
'Lily!' James grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently 'Are you OK?'  
'What?' Lily seemed to have snapped out of her trance, and was now looking up at him, with a startled expression on her face 'Oh, Yeah, I'm fine'  
James stood up and pulled her to her feet. 'C'mon, I'll take you to the hospital wing, just to make sure.'  
Lily shook her head 'No, that's okay.'  
'What we're you doing down here anyway?' James asked her curiously.  
'I saw you through the window, and wondered if you could give me a flying lesson' she smiled and shook her head 'But I'm not so sure I want one anymore'  
James grinned sheepishly ' I'm really sorry Lils, I wasn't paying attention'  
'No, It's OK' she shrugged 'No damage done.'  
  
James looked at her thoughtfully, and then down at his broomstick. He bent down and picked it up.  
'How about that flying lesson then?' he grinned at her.  
'wha-? Now way James!' she held up her hands in protest ' There's no way I'm gonna trust myself on one of those!'  
'You don't have to.' James mounted the broom and patted in front of him ' Hop on with me.'  
(A/N: I know, I know - the old romantic broomstick ride, how many times has it been done again?)  
Lily looked between the broostick and James warily.  
'C'mon Lil' said James 'I am the best flyer at Hogwarts you know.'  
Lily sighed and made her way over ' And modest to.' she added, and mounted the broomstick infront of him. ' I'm warning you here and now, James' she said 'If you drop me, I'm going to kill you!'  
'Nah' James said, kicking off from the ground, causing Lily to cling on to what she could of him tightly ' You're too important to drop!'   
His head was resting on her shoulder, and his voice in her ear, sent a shiver up   
her spine. She found herself thinking stupid thoughts again-  
-This is nice. A nice romantic broomstick ride! See he does like you!-  
-No he doesn't! He's my friend, and he's teaching me to fly!-  
-Shouldn't you be on your OWN broomstick then?-  
  
Lily got fed up and decided to ignore the voices, which was very well, considering at that moment James decided to perform an outwards loop, without her consent.  
'Here we go!' Lily heard him say, before she felt herself going backwards and upside down. She felt like she was going to fall, but James kindly removed one hand form the broomstick and grasped her firmly around the waist. This action made her feel strangely safe, as if she knew at that moment James wasn't going to drop her, and she wasn't going to fall.  
  
He finished the loop, and Lily was beggining to feel giddy.  
James must have felt at that moment that Lily had had enough, as he landed and let go of her (to her slight dissapointment).  
She shakily got off the broom and turned to yell at him. But one look on his face tole her not to do it. He looked quite guilty, but concerned at the same time. He gave her a slight smile.  
  
Lily nodded her head slowly 'OK' she turned, and slowly began her way back to the castle.  
'Wait!' James called and ran up to her ' Are you OK?'  
Lily strained a smile ' Yeah great, just dandy!' she kept walking, but James held her back. She turned to look up at him.  
'Lily, I shouldn't have done that' He looked at her sheepishly 'I'm sorry.'  
Lily sighed ' I know!' she locked her gaze with his, when she noticed something familiar in his eyes -The gold flecks!- she thought to herself - They're there again!-.  
  
She kept looking, fascinated by the way the specks danced in the light. Until she notcied them getting closer and closer, and suddenly felt a pair of warm lips on her own. It was an extremely cold day, but Lily suddenly felt warm all over and tingles ran through her body, giving her a feeling she had never experienced before.  
And as quickly as it had started, it stopped, leaving Lily extremely breathless and looking at one extremely horrified James Potter.  
'Look Lily' He said in a high pitched voice 'I DEFINETELY shouldn't have done that.' and before Lily could say anything, he turned and ran up to the castle.   
  
Lily stood there, registering what had just happened.  
'Oy! Lily!' Lily turned and saw Remus running towards her, pulling a girl along with him, who she recognised as Ashleigh.  
'Oh, hey Remus, Ash' Lily said softly.  
'Was that James?' Ashleigh asked her, looking quite confused.  
'Yeah, it was.' Lily answered.  
'Did he just KISS you?' Remus said loudly.  
Lily looked between their suprised expressions   
' Yeah, he did, and ran up to the castle' she glanced at the turrets and towers visible from the pitch ' Not before taking it back, of course'  
'Now that is weird' Ashleigh stated, nodding her head.  
'Definetely' Remus agreed, and then took a look around the pitch ' What were you two doing out here anyway? It's bloody freezing!' he said  
'I should ask you two the same thing' Lily raised her eyebrows as both went extremely red.  
'We should really head up to the castle' Remus said, changing the subject 'C'mon Lily'  
  
He grabbed Ashleigh's hand and linked his free arm through Lily's. (A/N: In only a friendly wasy of course! Remus is a one woman man! Alright, two, because he does have to put up with Bella as a best friend.)  
They trudged up to the castle, each thinking the same thing -  
  
What the hell was up with James Potter?  
  
______________________________________________________________________________  
  
'What are you doing?'   
Bella had been following Sirius around all day, not that he minded of course, any time alone with Arabella Figg was sacred to him.   
  
But she wasn't following him in a 'friendly, let's hang out together' sort of way, it was more a 'I'm the scientist,observing the specimen' kind of thing. Not to mention Bella had a piece of paper and pen with her, that she kept marking on - making Sirius deduce that it was a list, and whatever was on the list had to do with him.  
  
Bella, who had been walking 2 or so metres behind him, looked up from the list.  
'Following you of course!' She said, and gave him one of her trademark mischievous grins.  
  
Sirius blushed and turned around so she wouldn't see. He was a sucker for that grin. Much to his horror, however, Bella bounded infront of him and turned around. He knew he was still blushing, yes the great Sirius Black! The boy who USED to have a different girlfriend each week, the boy who could charm the pants off anything (except Bella of course!), was blushing. And Arabella had seen it.  
'Aha!' she exclaimed and pointed at his face.   
  
He winced expecting her to say something. Instead, she bounded back to her original position 2 metres behind him. She grabbed her pen, took the lid off with her teeth, and marked something off the list.   
Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
'So, Sirius' Bella put the pen away and folded the list. Sirius got a peek at what was on it, and the words looked oddly like Remus' handwriting. She bounded up to him again, but this time she began to walk alongside him.  
'Where are you headed?' She asked, looking up at him. (Sirius was about 15 centimetres taller than her.)  
Sirius frowned, where WAS he headed?  
  
They had reached the entrance hall, the draft from the doors made it quite chilly and Bella shivered.   
Sirius looked over at her. She must have been freezing! She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and sneakers, but she had no jumper, only one of Remus' skivvys, which was quite big on her and a beanie, which he also suspected to belong to Remus.  
  
'Here.' Sirius took off his jacket, pulled off his blue hooded jumper and handed it to her, avoiding eye contact. ' Put this on, you're freezing'  
'Are you sure?' she asked warily  
'Yes! Now put it on before you catch pneumonia!' He put his jacket back on.  
She nodded and pulled it over her head. It was amazingly warm, and smelt like deodorant and chocolate. And for some strange reason, she felt extremely safe in it. Even more so then when she wore Remus' clothes.  
  
She had no time to dwell on this however, as just at that moment the doors into the entrance hall creaked open and in bolted...  
'James!' Sirius called ' What are you doing?'  
James jumped, and spotting them, rushed over.  
'No time to talk now' he gasped, as if he had been running ' You gotta hide me!'   
Sirius became confused, and Bella looked quite alarmed.  
'Why?' Sirius asked  
'Just hide me, and then I'll tell you!' James said loudly.  
Bella gave Sirius an angry look, and grabbed James by the arm.  
'C'mon, we'll take you to the kitchens' She started pulling him down the steps.  
'Are you coming or what?' She snapped at Sirius.  
He nodded and started to follow.  
'Thanks, Bella' James said gratefully, as they made their way toward the kitchens, 'I'll tell you what's up when we get there.'  
  
He looked over at her and grinned.  
'Is that Sirius' jumper?'  
'Shut up!' she said furiously.  
'Sorry I asked.'  
  
_____________________________________  
  
Lily, Remus and Ashleigh had also come inside. They had met up with Peter on his way back from the library, and now all four were seated in the common room, waiting for Lily to tell them what had happened with James.  
'Alright, spill' Remus got comfortable on the couch, Ashleigh leaning next to him and Peter sitting on the floor with his back against the couch.  
Lily squirmed uncomfortably in her armchair.  
'Alright' she sighed ' It started like this..'  
  
______________________________________  
  
'You've gotta talk to her!' said Bella  
  
James had just finished recounting his story to Bella and Sirius, who apart from looking initially shocked that he had a thing for Lily, had taken it upon themselves to help him sort things out. They were sitting in the kitchen, each holding a mug of hot chocolate the house elves had made for them.  
  
'Yeah' Agreed Sirius 'Ask her to the ball!'  
Bella's eyes lit up.  
'Of course! Ask her to the ball James! I'll help you!'  
James looked irritated ' What if she doesn't think of me that way?'  
Bella rolled her eyes. 'You're James Potter, hunk extraordinare! Every girl in Hogwarts has thought about you that way at some point or another. Me included!'  
  
James looked at her in disbelief and Sirius scowled.  
'Hey!' She shrugged ' I have'  
James still looked unbelieving.  
Bella groaned ' Third year, christmas. remember?'   
James shook his head.  
'Mistletoe in the common room? We had to kiss?'  
James smiled 'Now I remember. You liked me then,huh?'  
'Yes' Bella said ' During the kiss I thought of you romantically.' she frowned ' Of course the kiss only lasted, what, four seconds?'  
'Are you telling me you liked me for FOUR seconds?' Asked James  
'What can I say' said Bella ' I fall in and out of love easily'   
Sirius looked quite relieved.  
  
'So as I was saying' Bella said 'I'm sure Lily will like you. She may even now! Have you noticed how she's been daydreaming alot lately?'  
'That doesn't mean anything' James mumbled 'I think I'm gonna go wallow in self pity in my dorm. Will you two come and make sure that the coast is clear.'  
'Of what?' Asked Sirius, though he already knew what, or should I say who James was reffering to.  
'Of Lily you dolt!' James smacked him upside the head.  
'Ow! That hurt Prongs!' Sirius moaned  
Bella sighed ' C'mon you two' They exited the kitchens and made their way toward Gryffindor tower ' And what's with the nicknames?'  
  
________________________________________  
  
Lily had also finished telling her side of the story, and had retired to her dorm in quite a forlorn manner. Peter, along with Remus and Ashleigh, was shocked at the whole thing.  
'I suppose it's best to wait until James shows up then' He said, and the others agreed.  
  
This didn't take quite as long as they expected, however. About five minutes later, Sirius and Bella came through the portrait hole. Bella waited beside it, while Sirius looked around the common room, spotted them and came over.  
'Where's Lily?' He asked, trying to look serious, but failing miserably.  
'Up in her dorm' said Remus ' Why?'  
Sirius turned to Bella and gave her the thumbs up, she looked as if she was saying something to the potrait. But the next moment it swung open and James pulled himself in, looking quite miserable.  
  
They made their way over to the group. Bella careful to stay infront of James, as she was grinning like mad.  
'I'm going up to bed' James announced monotonely, and climbed up the boys staircases.   
  
The moment he was gone, Bella started laughing, and Sirius quickly followed suit.  
'Alright' Bella said, calming down a little ' Where's Lily?'  
'Up in her dorm' Remus said, then frowned up at her ' Isn't that Sirius jumper?'  
  
He laughed, but the glare Bella gave him was enough to make him stop quickly.  
'I'm going to see her.' Bella said, still looking angrily at Remus. She turned swiftly and marched up the stairs.  
'Gor!' said Peter 'Why is everyone so miserable today?'  
The others just laughed.  
  
_____________________________________  
  
'Lily?' The sixth year girls dormitory door slowly opened and Bella stepped inside.  
There was no reply.  
'Lily' Said Bella again 'I know you're in here'  
A muffled sound could be heard coming from Lily's bed. Bella walked over. Lily was lying in bed with the covers pulled over her face.  
Bella creeped over and swiftly pulled the covers off.  
'Hey!' Cried Lily, and looked up at her sulkily.  
'Do you liked James?' Bella asked suddenly - she wanted to get straight to the point.  
  
Lily didn't answer, but grabbed the blanket and pulled it back over her.  
'Oh no you don't!' Bella ripped off Lily's entire bedspread and looked down at her impatiently ' Do you like him or not! I'm not gonna leave you alone until you answer me!'  
Lily mumbled something incoherent.   
'What?' asked Bella  
Lily scowled up at her ' I said, I DON'T KNOW!'   
'Well, what would help you make up your mind?' asked Bella, she pulled out her wand 'Maybe a nice new pair of ears? A new hair colour?' she raised her wand, ready to perform a spell.  
'Alright! Alright! I like him OK!' Lily screeched 'Just leave me alone!'  
Bella grinned 'Would you go to the ball with him?'  
Lily sighed ' Yes, I would!'  
'Great!' Bella jumped off the bed.  
'Wait!' Lily sat up 'Where are you going?'  
'I've got detention tonight, remember?' said Bella   
'You're alwaysin trouble' said Lily, shaking her head ' Nearly as bad as the boys!'  
' I gotta go, I'm gonna be late and I don't wanna miss dinner.' She headed out the door.  
  
'Bella, one more thing' called Lily, smiling to herself.  
'What?' the other girl called back.  
'Why are you wearing Sirius jumper?'  
Lily got no reply, but instead a frustrated yell could be hear from the stairs.  
'ARGH!!!!!!'  
  
Bella headed down the stairs. She wasn't lying, she did have detention. A few days ago she went late night pranking with the boys. But she got angry with Sirius and stormed off, much to their protest. It was her fault however that she was making to much noise and was caught by Proffesor McGonnagol. She had tried to explain her way out of it but still got a couple of detentions.  
  
(A/N: The boys actually do pull alot of pranks that I dont write about. It's just it takes to much room. I'm only gonna write about the pranks that affect the plot of the story. 'kay?)  
  
Before she headed off to detention though, she was gonna go see James, and talk some sense into him.  
She reached the common room, passed the rest of the group with a smile, and headed up the boys stair cases.  
'Wonder what she's doing?' Asked Ashleigh  
'I dunno' Replied Sirius.  
  
When Bella reached the boy's dorm, it was much a repeat of her and Lily's. James had also opted to hide underneath the covers of his bed, but he had also pulled his curtains shut. Bella quiet crept over and slipped in.  
  
'Get up grumpy bum!' She yelled as she jumped on his bed 'The amazing Bella Figg has solved all your problems!'  
James groaned ' Would the amazing Bella Figg stop jumping on me?'  
'Not until you get up!' Bella said, continuing to jump.  
James pushed his blankets off and looked at her angrily.  
'Ever heard of a little thing called privacy?' He asked her  
'Nope' she said ' What's that?'  
James sighed.  
'C'mon James! Get up! Or else!' Bella whined  
'Or else what?'  
'Or else I won't tell you what Lily told me!' She said happily  
This seemed to change James' mind as he hopped out of bed.  
'Alright. What did she say?'  
  
Bella smiled and started singing stupidly 'She likes you! She wants to hold you! She wants to kiss you! She wants to go to the ball with you! She wants to marry you! She wants to -'  
  
'Enough!' James butted in, knowing exactly where the song was going and turning bright red. (A/N: Tee Hee!)  
Bella started to giggle ' Oo, Jamesie Poo! I think I love you!' She said in a high pitched voice, nearly perfectly imitating several of James' old ditzy girlfriends.  
James rolled his eyes. 'Did you just come up here to humiliate me?' He asked her.  
'No' she said, shaking her head 'I came up here to tell you Lily like you AND to humiliate you!' she smiled ' Oh and for one other thing aswell!'  
  
She headed over to Sirius chest of drawers.  
'So what do you want me to do about it?' He asked her, sitting on the edge of his bed.  
'Got talk to her!' Said Bella, pulling Sirius jumper off and shoving it in the right drawer.  
  
James, taking notice of what she was doing said 'You know, it's scary how you know where everything is in this room. I mean especially since girls aren't supposed to be up here!'  
Bella smiled as she moved over to Remus' section of the room. ' And you don't know you're way around Lily and I's dorm?'  
  
She opened another draw (This time belonging to Remus) and pulled one of his jumpers out - a green one this time.  
'True.' James nodded.  
Bella pulled the jumper over her head.  
  
'Wasn't Sirius' jumper cosy enough for you?' James smirked.  
'No it was fine' She said, then added ' I was just sick of stupid people like you teasing me!'  
She walked back over to him.  
'I mean it's fine when I wear all Remus' stuff' she said irritatingly ' But can I wear Sirius' jumper? NO, that suggests something otherwise!'  
  
She then looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time.  
'You're still here?' she said alarmingly, she checked her watch ' and bloody hell! I've got detention' she pulled him off the bed.  
'Alright. You have to go and talk to Lily!' she told him as they headed for the door ' And ask her to the ball of course!'  
'What!' James pulled out of her grasp ' No way! I'm not talking to her!'  
Bella stomped her foot on the ground 'Oh yes you are!' she said 'Even if I have to make you!' she looked at him threatingly  
'No' James shook his head stubbornly.  
  
Bella rolled her eyes, -Is anything gonna make him budge?- she asked herself. A sly grin spread across her face -I know!-.  
She sauntered over to him.  
'That's okay James' She whispered , trying to sound seductive 'You could always go to the ball with me' She grinned up at him. ' I mean I don't think Remus would mind, and I'm sure it would be okay with Sirius!'  
James gulped 'Okay, I'll ask her!'   
Bella dropped the act immedietely and laughed 'Thatta boy James!' she said, slapping him on the back, 'I would have hated to set Remus and Sirius on you!'  
  
They made their way down the stairs and into the common room, where, suprisingly, the rest of the group was still seated.  
'Up you go Jamesie boy!' Bella said, saluting. She then headed quickly towards the potrait hole to get to detention.  
'Oy!' Sirius called after her 'Where's my jumper?'  
Remus grinned ' Maybe she likes mine better!'  
  
James sighed and started up the girls stairs, with a sudden cheer from his friends.  
'Great' he mumbled ' This is gonna be hell.'  
  
_____________________________________  
  
After Bella left, Lily made her bed, and was now just lying on top of it thinking. She wondered what Bella was going to do now that she knew Lily liked James. Lily herself was quite suprised at the revelation, she guessed it was the kiss. I mean you can't be kissed like that and not expect to fall for the guy, right?  
  
The door creaked open again, and Lily, expecting it be Bella called out.  
'Yeah, come in Bella!'  
'It's not Bella!' A masculine voice replied and a messy black haired head poked around the door - James.  
'Can I come in?' He asked cautiously  
Lily nodded and he stepped into the room nervously. He walked over to her bed cautiously and sat down on the floor.  
  
Lily knew he was looking at her, and she avoided his eye. An tense silence filled the room.  
'Look, Lily' James began, fiddling with the carpet ' the kiss, I know it was a problem.'  
Lily tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.  
'James' she sighed ' The kiss isn't the problem'  
'Oh' he said  
Lily continued ' The real problem is.' She looked up at him, finally making eye contact '...I liked it.'  
James looked stunned. 'y-y-you did?' he stuttered  
'Yeah' Lily nodded 'I did. And that scares me.'  
Both teenagers became silent.  
'I know!' said James, looking at the floor 'It scared me too, when I first found out I liked you.'  
Lily smiled slightly.  
'When was that?' she said sarcastically 'An hour ago?'  
'Fourth year.' James stated simply, and Lily looked shocked.  
  
'Don't look suprised' He said, shaking his head 'You'll find that with most guys. the moment they start liking someone seriously, they'll stop dating other girls.'   
He grinned ' For some they do it unconciously. Take Sirius for instance.'  
He grinned and Lily laughed.  
'Middle of fifth year' James continued 'When he and Bella started to fight really bad.' He shrugged 'Of course she always started it, because she genuinely dislikes him.' he stopped ' I'm going on, aren't I'  
'A little bit' Lily said.  
  
James chuckled, and then there was silence one more.  
'Lily?' James asked seriously  
'Yes James?'  
'Do you like me?' He ran a hand through his hair nervously.  
Lily smiled ' After you kissed me like that?' she asked 'How could I not?'  
James face broke into a true smile 'Really?'  
'Really, really'  
  
James hopped up and gave her a hug.  
'Does this mean you'll go to the ball with me?' he whispered into her ear.  
'What do you think?' She whispered back.  
James grinned 'Does this mean I can kiss you again?' he asked  
Lily pulled back to look at him.  
  
'No'  
  
He looked quite dissapointed until...  
'How about I kiss you this time?' she grinned at him cheekily.  
'Three cheers to that!'  
  
______________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter Five is done! Woohoo!  
I can safely say that this is my favourite chapter! It's cause I spent so much time writing it!  
This chapter is 14 and a half pages! And that's minus my little comments at the start and finish!  
I would like to thank ALL my reviewers so far:  
  
~Moonylover - Thanks for being my first ever reviewer. I like the Remus/Bella friendship too. I think it's cute :)  
  
~Zille - Thankyou for encouraging me to continue. I did take your advice on changing the summary! It worked (I think :( )  
  
~Becka - Well I've gotten Lily and James together! Do you think it was okay? (bites lip nervously)  
  
~Padfoots Princess - Yeah, I know, por Siri! :( He's my favourite and I hated to do that to him!!!  
  
~Nat - Cheers! I love l/j fics too! (But I like Sirius/Bella ones more!!! :) )  
  
~ Ashleigh - I think Sirius is funny too! I based him on the type of guy I would go for (and based Bella on myself! *Grins sheepishly*) I named Ashleigh after one of my friends! Ashleigh's a great name! :)  
  
~Scottieupshallforlife (anonymous) - Thanks! I know, it is sooooooooooo difficult to get people to notice your story! Argh! Thanks for reviewing anyway!!! :)  
  
Thanks everyone! I've got your name's down and I'n gonna try to review atleast one of your stories! Okay? :)  
  
Finally, I would like to wish a very happy Australia Day for the 26th to any Aussies out there! even though I won't be having one! :( I have to go to an 80th birthday instead of the lotto skyworks!! :( I know! Boohoo for me!  
  
Alright! Anyways pretty please with sugar and cherries and spirnkles on top review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Till next time,   
weasley-kid : ) 


	6. A trip to Hogsmeade and a change of hear...

I know!! Please don't yell at me!!! I should have done it so much earlier, maybe written a little each day so I could post it!! But I didn't so here it is, finally!!   
  
I'm sooooo sorry!! But in February school started and I've had sooooooooo much homework (yr. 11 is hard!), and being a model student and all (yeah right!), I had to concentrate on my studies!!  
  
But anyway it's finally posted!! Yippee for me!! I should really be studying for my Litr essay but I decided to write instead!!  
  
I'm so glad people are beginning to like the Sirius/Bella thing, they're my favourite characters and I'm happy people are saying that they like the love/hate thing going on. I tried to put all different sorts of romances in this story so we have the friendship turned something more - Lily and James, the sweet crushing on each other romance - Remus and Ashleigh, and the love/hate - he loves her she hates him pair - Sirius and Bella.  
  
Well anyway here's chapter --- Hey I've forgotten!! I think it's chapter 5 or 6, but anyway it's the Hogsmeade chapter and it's got a different style to the way I've seen other writers do the whole "shopping for the ball" thing, for starters the girls DO NOT go with each other, and were going to see some l/j and r/a lovey dovey action, and some breaking of the ice between Sirius and Bella (wooooohooooo!!), but not too much.  
  
Anyways, enjoy............  
  
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ROLLERCOASTER- CHAPTER SIX - A TRIP TO HOGSMEADE AND A CHANGE OF HEART.  
  
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The Christmas holidays had begun! Every student was overly excited as the festive spirit bestowed itself upon the castle.  
  
The ball was looming on the horizon, sending girls into fits of panic and giving the all the boys headaches. Every girl was planning to visit Hogsmeade on Saturday - whether it was to buy dressrobes, or nailpolish for the final touch to their outfits.  
  
The fact that Lily and James were now a couple stayed no secret to the rest of the students. Gossip tended to spread quickly in Hogwarts, and Lily and James getting together was no acceptation. Most people were happy for them, save a few heartbroken girls and guys who were convinced that either Lily or James was destined to be their true love.  
  
The rest of the group had taken awhile to adjust, but now found it quite normal to see Lily and James together.  
  
To top of all the excitement, new additions were being added to the group. Ashleigh had begun to sit with them at dinner and sometimes in the common room (she usually sat with Samantha, the final Gryffindor girl), and Peter's date for the ball a cute, short fifth year Hufflepuff named Rosie shyly sat next to Peter every now and then.  
  
This didn't mean that everyone in the group was happy. There were two that weren't (A/N: duh! Wonder who? Should I even tell you?), Sirius and Bella.  
  
To them, everybody had become happy little couples, and this made them fairly miserable.  
  
Bella missed Li. She knew the guy was a jerk but he was cute! And when she was dating him she had a strange feeling that she was falling in love. So now she could be spotted staring forlornly over at the Ravenclaw table at meal times, looking nearly on the verge of tears.  
  
Sirius had spotted this of course. And was angry that Bella could still have feelings for 'that barstard'! So this accounted for why he was so miserable, that and the fact that he hadn't played any good pranks lately. Sirius needed to be naughty like he needed air, and everyone being so absorbed in one other wasn't helping the problem. He also didn't have a date for the ball yet. But he didn't see the point in asking some other girl, when the only girl he wanted to take didn't even notice him.  
  
Bella and Sirius were both so caught up in being miserable themselves, each failed to notice how miserable the other was.  
  
This opportunity presented itself on Hogsmeade weekend, however.  
  
Bella who assumed she was going shopping for robes with Lily and Ashleigh (and maybe Samantha), was angry when she was told they were going with their boyfriends.  
  
'I hope you don't mind' Lily said airily, tucking her hair behind her ear ' It's just James can be such a baby, he needs to learn how to shop! Did you know his mother buys all his clothes for him! I bet he hasn't even been in a clothes shop!'  
  
  
  
Bella smiled weakly and nodded, but inwardly she was just about crying.   
  
And when she asked Remus if she could tag along with him and Ashleigh, he also said NO. (It was the night before the Hogsmeade trip, and Bella was making her regular nightly visit to the boys' dorm.)  
  
'Don't get mad Bella' Remus said cautiously as he pulled on a t-shirt and climbed into bed, ' It's just well, you know, Ash and I...' He grinned  
  
'Gross!'  
  
'Hey! You asked if you could come' he looked at her apprehensively, as if waiting for her to pounce and attack.  
  
'Fine!' Bella sighed  
  
'Now get out' said Remus ' I need some sleep'  
  
'Petey?' Bella turned to Peter, a sad, begging look in her eyes.  
  
'Uh - uh' Peter held up his hands in defense 'Don't try that on me, I'm going with Anna'  
  
'Of course!' Bella groaned and flopped helplessly to the floor, upon which James, who had just returned from brushing his teeth, started to laugh.  
  
'Shut up Potter!' came her muffled voice from somewhere behind her hands. She lifter her head to glare at him, Remus' beanie flopped awkwardly on her head.  
  
'Why don't you wear your own clothes?' James asked, as he walked over to her and lifted her from the floor.  
  
'Because Remus' are comfy.' she stated simply, "But not as comfy as Sirius jumper!" she thought to herself before taking it back - "no"  
  
She wriggled out of James' grasp and re-opened Remus' curtains, plonking back down on his bed.  
  
'Hey!' Remus mumbled incoherently 'Get out!'  
  
She grinned at him, 'No'  
  
He yawned 'I'm too tired to argue!'  
  
Bella rolled her eyes ' Alright then' she crawled over and hugged him 'Night Rem, sleep tight, don't let the beg bugs bite.' she pulled away and frowned ' Or dream bugs for that matter they'll get to you. Did you know that once when I woke up-'  
  
'I get the picture!'  
  
Bella laughed 'I know, I'm going!'  
  
She jumped off his bed and shut the curtains  
  
'Night Rem, Love ya!'   
  
'You too' he said and she smiled contently.  
  
'Scandal' James said 'Bella and Remus love each other. I should tell Ash!'  
  
Bella rolled her eyes, but smiled as she heard Remus' snores.  
  
'I love you all!' she said, as James and Peter both pulled their curtains shut ' But I'm not sure you all love me.' She headed for the door 'Making me go alone on a Hogsmeade trip, it's just downright cruel, I could get murdered, or mugged, or raped, or beat up, or-' But she was cut off.  
  
'You could go with me.' It was Sirius. He had been quiet during most of her visit and she had suspected him to be asleep. But now he was sitting up looking at he hopefully.  
  
Bella hesitated, before putting out the candles with a flick of her wand.  
  
' 'Night Sirius.' She said quietly, she shut the door and disappeared from view, down the steps.  
  
Sirius sighed and lay back down. He had been stupid for asking, right? I mean why would she want to go with him?  
  
He was broken out of his thoughts however by the patter of feet bounding up the steps and the door creaking open.  
  
'Sirius?' Bella creeped up to the end of his bed, and stood facing him. Sending thoughts through his mind that he definitely would NOT want her to know about.  
  
'Yeah?' He whispered back, he could just make out her face in the moonlight.  
  
'You're on!' She grinned, causing his stomach to flip. She did look as if she was having a hard time saying it though.  
  
'I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into!' she added and then made her way back to the door ' 'Night' she whispered, and with that she was gone again.  
  
'Night' Sirius returned softly before laying back down, grinning like mad.  
  
Sure, It was no proclamation of undying love. But it was something.  
  
Bella also smiled slightly as she climbed into bed.   
  
"He deserves some recognition" she though, as she lay down. "He did tell Li off!" she frowned "But I still don't like him! No, definitely not!... atleast I might be able to finish the list!"  
  
___________________________________________  
  
It was Saturday morning, and Bella awoke to the sounds of the other girls in her dorm getting ready to go to Hogsmeade.   
  
She got up and started to get ready herself. After taking a shower, she got dressed and brushed her shoulder length, medium brown hair, which, when dry, would fall into loose curls.  
  
She had decided to borrow one of Remus' jumpers (suprise, suprise). She didn't have one thick enough, and disliked wearing her cloak.  
  
As she was heading up the staircase, many boys came down, smiling and winking at her as she passed, and she entered James, Sirius, Remus and Peter's dorm with a smile firm on her face. Remus was getting dressed, and Bella wolf-whistled as he pulled on his pants.  
  
'Hey Bella' He said, then looked at her warily, obviously wondering if she still was upset about last night.  
  
'Where are the others?' Bella asked, sitting on the end of James' bed.  
  
'James and Peter have gone to breakfast' Remus answered, pulling a t-shirt over his head 'And Sirius is having a shower.'  
  
'Oh' She stood up and headed over to him 'I'm borrowing one of your jumpers.'  
  
Remus rolled his eyes 'Of course you are. Look, I gotta go. Meet Ash, you know.'  
  
'Yeah' she opened his jumper draw and began searching through it.  
  
'Are you right going on you own?' Remus asked looking worried 'Because, you know, if it's not too late-'  
  
'Rem!' Bella cut him off 'I'm fine! I'm going with Sirius!'  
  
She lifted her head from the drawer, waiting for his reaction.  
  
'What!?'  
  
'I know, I know' she made a noise of disgust 'But since you boys deserted him aswell!'  
  
Remus grinned.  
  
'Atleast I know Sirius will keep you safe!'  
  
Bella groaned 'Shut up!'  
  
But Remus continued 'He'd fight to the death for his fair maiden!' he made a motion as if he was pulling a sword out 'Take that evil comrades!'  
  
Bella scowled at him. 'I don't know where you get off doing that, I wonder what Sirius would say if he knew you were making up crap about him!'  
  
'I'm not!' Exclaimed Remus 'Why don't you ask him yourself?' he glanced at the door. 'Look I gotta go.'  
  
'OK' She smiled and gave him a hug 'Have fun'  
  
'You too, fair maiden!' He called as he ran out the door  
  
'Whatever!' Bella said as she pulled out one of Remus' red jumpers.  
  
She held it out. It would go alright with her skirt and tights. She pulled it over her head and put on her scarf.  
  
She sat down and began waiting for Sirius, she could hear the water running in the shower.  
  
" God! What's taking him so bloody long!" She thought to herself, and was just about to barge into the bathroom and tell him to 'Hurry the hell up!' when a strange sound met her ears.  
  
It took Bella all of 2 seconds to realise that Sirius was singing, not that he was good at it.  
  
' You've got a cute way of talking.  
  
You've got the better of me!'  
  
Bella grinned, she knew that song. Bella loved muggle music, and owned a Leo Sayer c.d.   
  
"I wonder how Sirius knows it though?" She thought.  
  
'Just snap your fingers and I'm walking,  
  
Like a dog, hanging on your leash!'  
  
Sirius' voice rose to a new level of awful screeching and Bella happily thought "blackmail time!"  
  
'Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah!  
  
Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah!'  
  
The shower turned off and Bella waited for him to come out. "Oh boy! This is gonna be good!"  
  
'You make me feel like dancing,  
  
gonna dance the night away!  
  
You make me feel like dancing,  
  
gonna dance the night away!  
  
You make me feel like dancing,  
  
I feel like dancing, dancing,  
  
dance my night a- WAH!!!!!!!!'  
  
Sirius had entered the dorm, a towel wrapped around his waist, and had spotted Bella, who he was now staring at in shock.  
  
But he wasn't the only one rendered speechless.  
  
Bella couldn't remember the last time she had seen Sirius shirtless. Probably Fourth Year, because after that he seemed to have a problem changing in front of her.   
  
But he sure looked better without a top on now.   
  
Bella was shocked at how 2 years could change someone so much. Bella didn't really go for muscled, butch guys, and Sirius wasn't. He was slim and his chest and arms were firm and strong, without looking bulky. Bella could see a definite trace of a six-pack, and supposed he had got it as a result of quidditch, because Li had one also.  
  
Then she snapped out of it. Li! How could she be gaping at Sirius like this! Li had a much better body. Besides she didn't even like Sirius!  
  
But, nonetheless she grinned at him (and if Remus had been in the room, he would have known the grin had NOTHING to do with what she was about to say.)  
  
'Nice singing Black'  
  
Sirius blinked a few times.  
  
'uh-er' He blushed and turned away.  
  
'er- Arabella, what are you doing here?'  
  
Bella swung her legs off the bed, her mary-janes falling with a thud and sat looking over at him.  
  
Sirius groaned inwardly. Why did she have to dress so cute like that? And here he was, in nothing but a towel!  
  
'Waiting for you of course!' , she said, and then assumed a questioning expression, 'I mean you're still coming, right? You haven't found anyone else to go with?'  
  
'No!' Sirius exclaimed hastily 'course not.' he moved to get changed.  
  
Bella sat watching him.  
  
'Er... Bella?"  
  
'Yeah?'  
  
Sirius smiled sheepishly 'You mind turning away?'  
  
'Fine!' she turned around 'I don't see what the big deal is! I see Remus and James and Peter change all the time! And you boys have seen me get changed enough times to!'  
  
She saw Sirius flinch uncomfortably in the corner of her eye and grinned.  
  
'By the way Sirius' said Bella in an airy tone 'Nice muscles!'  
  
And she would have sworn he went tomato red.  
  
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Remus and Ashleigh had arrived at Hogsmeade, snow had fell lightly the night before, making the village look like rows of frosted gingerbread houses.  
  
'Bella and Sirius? Are you kidding?'  
  
Remus had just filled Ashleigh in on who Bella was coming to Hogsmeade with.  
  
She was now grinning at him, quite amazed at the concept.  
  
'5 galleons says she kills him. She's already threatened to a million times before!'   
  
Remus chuckled,  
  
'And Sirius wouldn't do anything about it' he said, putting his hands infront of him defensively in a wild gesture 'Please Bella! Don't! I love you! Please don't kill me!'  
  
Ashleigh laughed   
  
'We'll find him drowning in a Honeyduke's Barrel!'  
  
'Ah, well. It will be a sweet death. Sirius loves lollies.'  
  
Ashleigh raised her eyebrows 'So does Bella, she crams them under her bed. If those two stopped fighting -'  
  
Remus cut her off 'It's Bella who does most of the fighting lately!'  
  
Ashleigh rolled her eyes 'If BELLA would stop fighting she would see how much she has in common with him. It's really quite stupid. They're both loud and ALWAYS getting into trouble. I'd expect they'd be perfect together.'  
  
Remus smiled and slipped his palm into Ashleigh's  
  
'Just like you and me, eh?'  
  
Ashleigh smiled at him, and squeezed his hand,  
  
'Just like you and me.' she repeated.  
  
_____________________________________________________  
  
James was bored, very bored. He was stuck in a robe shop with his robe obsessed girlfriend who was making him carry -what else? - robes.   
  
For the past half an hour he had been following Lily all over the shop. Every so often she would pull a robe out of the rack and shove it onto the huge pile he was already carrying. The weight was beginning to get to him, and James was a pretty strong boy.  
  
'Lily! Are you finished?' James asked from behind the huge pile he was lugging.  
  
Lily ignored him and instead pulled out a pair of robes, one green with elongated sleeves, the other yellow with a plunging neckline.  
  
'Which one?' she asked, and James had to crane his neck to see.  
  
'The yellow one.' he said, and Lily looked at him in disgust.  
  
'You're just saying that because of the low neckline' she plunged the robe back into the rack 'Pervert.'  
  
She moved onto the next rack. James moved to catch up to her, stumbling on the sleeves and hems of robes that were coming loose from the pile.  
  
'I'm your boyfriend' he said defensively 'I'm ALLOWED to perve on you.'  
  
Lily scowled at him, adding another robe onto the pile.  
  
'Whatever' she moved swiftly to another row of robes.  
  
James shrugged 'It's my boyfriendial right.'   
  
'I said whatever!' Lily said angrily.  
  
James could tell Lily was getting snappy, she always did when she was shopping.  
  
'No need for you to get angry.' he said 'Who's followed you around for nearly an hour? Who has been your personal robe rack?'  
  
Lily turned to him and pushed down the robe pile, looking him straight in the eye.  
  
'These are for you to you know! The least you can do is help me carry them.'  
  
'Yeah, well, they're getting bloody heavy!' James retorted.  
  
Lily sized up the pile, noting the several robes dragging on the floor.  
  
'You're right.' she said 'C'mon let's go try them on.'  
  
And with a flick of her deep red hair she was off toward the change rooms.  
  
'Finally!!!!'  
  
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For Bella and Sirius the short carriage ride into Hogsmeade was fairly quiet. They had never really been on their own together, except in detention and younger years when they spent most of their time screaming at one another.  
  
Bella kept her eyes staring out the window, Sirius shyly trying to make small talk, but recieving only replies of 'yes' 'no' or 'maybe'. Eventually he grew fed up and he too turned his attention to the carriage window and watched snow covered trees pass by.  
  
They arrived in Hogsmeade around half past ten, and set off down the frosted street swarming with other Hogwarts students. It was Bella who spoke first as they strolled past the many shops and people, she had spotted a small store across the street -  
  
'oooh, Sirius, look! The pet shop!'  
  
So they crossed the street and entered "Enchanted Creatures".  
  
Bella headed straight for the back corner, to look at the kittens.   
  
'I've always wanted a cat.' she stated simply to Sirius as he watched her wiggle her finger at a small white kitten in the enclosure 'Remus won't buy me one though, the meanie.'  
  
'I didn't know that.' said Sirius peering in at all the small animals.  
  
'I wouldn't know which one to pick though,' she said softly, 'They're all so cute!'  
  
After the pet store, Sirius and Bella went to Honeydukes. Sirius was rather happy.  
  
Even though Bella wasn't talking to him much, she wasn't ignoring him either, and she was somewhat trying to be friendly to him.  
  
They found it rather funny walking down the main road of Hogsmeade. Bella and Sirius were famous for their huge fights, and although the major fights had come somewhat to a stand still, many students still found it unbelievable that Bella and Sirius were in Hogsmeade together. And Bella couldn't blame them.  
  
'There's Simone Hardwell' Sirius said as they passed a petite blonde girl whose mouth was open in shock as she watched Sirius and Bella stroll by.  
  
'It's ok Simone!' Bella called past her shoulder 'I still don't like him.'  
  
Sirius assumed a hurt expression but this faded as he spotted a familiar face a little way up the street.  
  
'Arabella!' he whispered urgently 'It's Trent Brocklehurst!'  
  
Bella looked and a smile creept onto her face.  
  
In their third year Bella and Sirius had a terrible row, one of their worst ever. It had been in the common room one afternoon, and anyone who had any sense had made themselves scarce. Poor Trent, however, then an innocent first year, had forgotten his charms book. He tried to grab it unseen, but ended up toppling over one of the small tables. The result wasn't good.   
  
Bella and Sirius hexed him so many times that Trent had to stay in the hospital wing for three weeks. Even though because of the incident they had recieved their harshest punishments ever, he had been scared of either one alone ever since.  
  
But now here they were, in Hogsmeade, together.  
  
As Bella and Sirius drew closer, Trent seemed to have become temporarily paralysed, the look on his face was priceless.  
  
Once they had passed, Sirius and Bella dissolved into hysterics. Bella hadn't laughed so hard in a long time, and reluctantly leaned on Sirius for support, so she wouldn't break down.  
  
It was at this exact moment Remus and Asheligh chose to walk by, each throwing knowing looks and the gigling pair.  
  
Bella knew Remus had discussed the whole Sirius liking her concept with Ashleigh, and she wasn't happy about it.  
  
'Oh sod off!' she called to him after they had passed and Sirius could just picture the stupid grin on Remus' face.  
  
Sirius had the smallest feeling that Remus MIGHT have tried to tell Bella that he liked her, actually he knew Remus had told her, but he was happy to see Bella obviously thought the whole concept was rubbish.  
  
Sirius' eyes scanned the street for other potential spying friends, Lily and James perhaps? But all he could see was a pack of third years crowded infront of Honeydukes and a big fat ugly -  
  
'In here!' Bella found herself being pushed into a shop hastily by Sirius.  
  
'What? What's going on?'she asked trying to turn as he guided her to the back of the store.  
  
'Nothing' he answered back in an undefinable tone, but she noticed he was watching the window looking outside at the front of the store rather warily.   
  
What Sirius had seen was a big fat ugly HEAD, that belonged to one of his least favourite people - Li. He didn't want to keep his word of bashing the barstard up when he still had a full day with Bella infront of him. He also didn't want to upset Bella. Whenever she saw Li she looked on the verge of tears and this made Sirius feel - well he didn't know, it was an emotion he had never felt before. It was like insane jealousy and sadness mixed into one. Sirius just couldn't figure out what Li had that he didn't. Regardless, he just didn't feel like an enounter with the fat headed prick right now.  
  
And so Sirius was extremely relieved that when they did emerge out of the shop (it had been a second hand store) onto the street once again, Li was nowhere to be seen.  
  
___________________________________________  
  
'What about this one?'  
  
'It's perfect.'  
  
'Will you stop bloody saying that!'  
  
Sirius and Bella were in Cedar's formal robe shop. And Bella was getting very, very annoyed.  
  
Whatever robe she tried on, Sirius said it looked perfect. It wasn't the fact that he was trying to complement her that was getting on her nerves, but the fact that she knew he was lying.  
  
Bella tugged at the robe that she was now wearing, it was blue and a bit too big, it dragged on the floor and she thought it looked ridiculous.  
  
'Will you quit lying!' she turned from the large mirror in the changing area to face Sirius who was looking rather stupid in a red silk robe.  
  
Sirius frowned 'I'm not lying!'  
  
'Yes you are!' Bella said angrily and stormed off to her change room 'And by the way that robe looks disgusting.'  
  
'It doesn't take a genius to figure that out!' said Sirius before pulling the curtains of his own change room shut.  
  
Bella sized up a white robe and started to pull it over her head   
  
'Sirius?' she asked  
  
'Yeah?' came his muffled reply  
  
Bella sighed 'Can you be honest please? Or I'm gonna look worse than I already do on ball night.'  
  
She exited the changeroom and made her way over to the mirror, the curtains of Sirius' changeroom were pulled violently open.  
  
'What do you mean worse than you already do?' he asked hastily, tugging at the sleeves of the emerald green robe he had pulled on.  
  
Bella ignored him, looking at herself scrutinizingly in the mirror, and Sirius stopped when he saw her.   
  
Bella didn't know this, but Sirius thought she was the most beautiful girl in the school, and the robe she had on really was perfect. It was white with a short hood and short slightly puffy sleeves (A/N: Just think of those short sleeved hoodies J.Lo wears), it touched the floor and diamantes trailed down the edges where the robe split in the middle, one sleeve fell of her arm exposing her bare shoulder in true Bella style.  
  
Sirius turned away, his face creeping up in a blush. He tried very hard not to look at Bella, as he suddenly had an extremely strong urge to kiss her.  
  
"God Sirius!" he thought to himself "If you can't control yourself now, how are you gonna be on ball night?"  
  
Bella frowned at herself in the mirror.  
  
'What do you think?' she asked turning to Sirius 'Hey! You're not even looking!'  
  
She went over and pulled him to the mirror, Sirius hoping very much that his blush had faded. He looked up and into the mirror.  
  
The hazel eyes of her reflection pierced into his and it took him several seconds to snap out of it and speak.  
  
'It's perfect, and I'm not joking this time. I mean it.' he said softly.  
  
Bella cocked her head to one side.  
  
'It'll have to do.' she turned to Sirius looking him up and down.  
  
He wasn't to bad, really.   
  
"Oh get over it Bella! He's bloody gorgeous!"  
  
Sirius with his deep brown eyes, olive skin, rougishly messy chestnut brown hair and mischievous smile made most of the girls at Hogwarts swoon. He wasn't tall tall, just about 15cm or so taller than herself and had ( as Bella had discovered earlier) an almost perfect body.   
  
Bella knew he was funny and always getting in trouble, just like herself and it didn't suprise her that many Hogwart's students and teachers alike would rather it be that they didn't get along. Many people feared the day Bella and Sirius became friends, the two notorious sixth years would be a worse pair of troublemakers than the Sirius and James team.  
  
And as Bella watched him gazing at himself in the mirror she couldn't help but understand why girls thought him a good catch. He was cute, a good friend (so Remus said) and fiercely protective. But why her? Why did her like HER? Out of all the girls at Hogwarts, all the PRETTY girls............... it was too confusing to think about.  
  
'Get that robe' she said finally 'It makes your eyes stand out'  
  
Sirius over looked at her in confusion, was that a compliment?  
  
Bella sighed and looked at herself once again 'it's not like a fancy robe is gonna help me anyway.' she said and started to move back to the change room.  
  
She was stopped, however, by a strong hand grasping her bare arm.   
  
All of a sudden, as quick as lightning, a chill ran up her spine, and a warm soft tingle spread from the place on her arm Sirius was touching . She looked up at Sirius, who had hasily pulled his arm away.   
  
Had he felt it too?  
  
He obviously had, as he turned away and spoke in a nervous voice.  
  
'Bella - you -you know that's not true.'  
  
'What?' she asked a puzzled look on her face   
  
He turned and looked her straight in the eye, and Bella, who had never really spent to much time with Sirius before could see his eyes were a deeper brown than she had ever seen them.  
  
'You're beautiful Bella.' he said simply, before turning away, wondering whether he should of opened his big mouth or not.  
  
Bella said nothing and went quietly back to her change room.  
  
As she was changing, a thousand thoughts rushed through her head.  
  
Why was Sirius acting so strange? Why didn't he tease her and pick on her like he used too?   
  
Sure, there were fights, but now they were about different things, like why she was talking to certain boys, or why didn't Sirius use her as target practise in quidditch training, when he used everyone else?   
  
Why did he talk to Li like that?   
  
Why, for the past two years, and especially this year, did he seem so protective of her?   
  
And why, why did he think she was beautiful?  
  
Deep down she knew the answer. Remus had told her that very day she had overheard Sirius talking to Li. She had known it all along, and Sirius telling her she was beautiful had made it so blatantly obvious it wasn't funny.  
  
Because Sirius thinking she was beautiful was the final thing on the list, and she couldn't ignore it anymore.  
  
____________________________________________  
  
A roar of laughter echoed through the Three Broomsticks Pub.   
  
James, Lily, Remus and Ashleigh were seated around a table in the corner, each holding a warm tankard of butterbeer.  
  
Finally, discussion of Sirius and Bella had ceased.   
  
Lily and Ashleigh began showing each other their purchases while James and Remus discussed the latest model bromstick in Quality Quidditch Supplies.  
  
The ball was only a week away and there was still alot to be done. Girls had to finalise their outfits, some boys had to finalise their dates.   
  
Remus had to make a (hopefully) short visit to the shrieking shack. Bella had to make a not too dramatic, not too tearful goodbye to Remus (the group was praying for this one) - no matter how many times she had to see Remus disappear down the tunnel for his transformations, Bella still hated the idea of him going through such pain.   
  
Last year the boys had sat her down and told her they really weren't to bad, that Remus was fine really (that was when they had begun with the stupid nicknames!) and she shouldn't worry. Did they honestly think that would stop her? She still cried and wasn't herself during the days Remus was away. To her it was a part of herself going through those horrible nights at the shrieking shack, her best friend for God's sake! And she hated it.   
  
James and Sirius still also had to sneak into Hogsmeade one day to buy presents and some firecrackers for chirstmas day, it was a tradition for them to let them off in the common room at the stroke of midnight to annouce christmas day to the rest of Gryffindor (much to their displeasure). And last years firecrackers display had been most memorable as Remus and Bella decided to start their own christmas tradition attaching some fireworks to Mrs Norris - needless to say the consequences were dire, but worth the memory of seeing a sparkling Mrs Norris zooming down the corridor at the speed of a shooting star.  
  
And last but not least there was the preparation for the ball itself, which truly promised to be a wonderful event. Even the boys were getting rather exited about it.  
  
____________________________________________  
  
And so it was with great enthusiasm (on James, Lily, Remus and Ashleigh's behalf), dissapointment ( Sirius) and deep thought (Bella) that the group returned to Hogsmeade that evening.   
  
That night Bella had a chat with Remus in the boys dorm, she always did before his visits to the shrieking shack, while the rest of the group stayed downstairs.  
  
'So how did your day go?' Remus asked looking over at her, he could tell something was bugging her, and he wanted to know what.  
  
'I finshed the list' Bella said quietly, before sitting on the edge of a bed, that Remus noticed with faint amusement, belonged to Sirius. A bed she had hardly spent time sitting on before, usually only to spite Sirius in earlier years.  
  
'Did you?' he replied and she looked over at him in suprise.  
  
'So you're not at all shocked?' she asked, looking quite unsure of herself.  
  
Remus shrugged 'Why should I be? It was a long time coming?'  
  
Bella didn't reply, only stared at him.  
  
'The question is,' Remus continued 'What are you going to do about it?'  
  
'I dunno' said Bella ' He was awfully nice today, I'll give him that.'  
  
'And....'  
  
'And, well, I just don't know what to think anymore!'  
  
Remus could tell the conversation was coming to an end, he stood up and made his way over to Bella.  
  
'What has he really done to you that has been bad, in the past two years Bella?' he asked, pulling her up and looking her straight in the eye.   
  
She didn't answer, only gazed back at him, her eyebrows furrowed.  
  
'Look' Remus said reasoningly 'I know you still like Li Bella, but you've got to make a decision here. What do you want?'  
  
Bella smiled at him.  
  
'Thanks Rem' she said hugging him 'You're always there for me.'  
  
'No worries' Remus grinned ruffling her hair and giving her a small kiss on the cheek 'What are best buds for?'  
  
They made there way to the dormitory exit.  
  
'But Rem?'  
  
'Yeah Bella?'  
  
She stopped at the doorway and looked over at him, frowning  
  
'What if I don't want either of them?'  
  
'Fine by me Bella, fine by me.'  
  
And with that they headed back down to trhe common room.  
  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   
  
JOY TO THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
At last I have finished this chapter! Which was a bugger to write I might add!  
  
I have spent so much time just staring at it, praying for words to come out of my head so it could just be finished!  
  
But finally it's done, posted and out of the way!  
  
The problem was I just had no ideas for this chapter, I knew the stuff I had to put in, just not how I should write it.  
  
But, anyway, thankyou so much for having patience and waiting so long! And just to show you how appreciative I am I'm going to give you three things that are happening in future chapters:  
  
1. Were going to get a new, adorable couple people! (Three guesses which pair this might be?)  
  
2. The quidditch final is coming up! YAY!  
  
3. There's going to be a chapter called 'The 'L' word"  
  
Ok that's all for now folks! Please read and review as it is very much appreciated!  
  
Cheers,  
  
Luv Weasley-kid xoxoxoxoxoxox :) 


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